Johto Breeze
by PeachyParchment
Summary: [In progress] In order to achieve her dream of becoming a pokemon ranger, Charlotte Evergreen must obtain the eight badges of Johto to appease her mother. Obstructed by the enigmatic Spore Initiative, Charlotte musters what little confidence she has to fight for more than her dreams [cover artwork is mine].
1. Dashed Dreams

**Chapter One: Dashed Dreams**

Taking a deep breath, the girl filled her lungs with brisk morning air. She had much to do so unfortunately she had to put an end to her swim sooner rather than later. With a heavy weight upon her heart she stood, water trickling down her freckled skin. After a stretch and a yawn she waded towards the bank, ripples surrounding her. She pulled herself out of the water unceremoniously, almost slipping upon deep green moss.

With a small smile on her lips, she padded towards the slumbering hypno she considered as family. She gently poked his forehead, stirring him. Soon, his earthy brown eyes pulled open, boring into the girl's blue-grey ones, his mind puzzled as to where he was.

"We're in the woods near home, grandpa," she reminded him with a giggle, standing upright.

He heaved himself to his feet, resting his weight upon his walking stick, his breath hitching with the effort. The girl watched him with concern. "We're not far from home," she assured him, skipping towards a nearby path.

She cheerily pushed her way through the narrow path, humming a tune to herself as she did so. Her feet fell heavily on the cool cobblestone as she ran in the direction of her home, carrot orange hair billowing behind her. Hypno tried his best to keep up, in spite of his wheezing chest.

Within several minutes, the girl had come to her destination, waiting for her weary grandfather to catch up. The house was as old as the city itself though it was well kept by her pretentious mother. It had a traditional appeal to it, complete with a slatted roof and walls of bleached plaster.

"Take your time Grandpa!" she called as he neared her. The old pokemon increased his pace slightly anyway. The girl smiled at him, relieved that he was able to walk all that way. She twisted the brass unlocked doorknob and let herself in, holding the door open for the hypno. He hobbled over to his favourite seat and set himself down. The girl just shook her head in pity before heading for the kitchen.

"Hi mum," she chirped a little hesitantly. The woman was pouring some pokemon kibble into bowls with deliberate and precise movements from practice. There was flour clinging to her apron and the scent of freshly baked muffins wafted in the stuffy kitchen.

"Charlotte!" she snapped, her piercing green eyes meeting hers with a glare, her glasses slipping on the bridge of her button nose. She pushed them up with a flourish. The girl backed away, wondering what she had done to anger her mother this time. She then noticed a trio of very hungry looking pokemon behind the counter. One was a stantler with large antlers, another was a balding noctowl and the final was very grouchy looking clefable. She knew these pokemon very well, well enough to know not to get in the way of them and their food.

"Go get ready," she said, gaze softening as she placed the bowls before the three pokemon. They instantly began stuffing their faces, crumbs flying here and there – one hitting the small girl in the middle of her forehead. Charlotte's smile wavered. Her hands began to shake a little along with a rise of anxiety. She wasn't ready for today even though she had known this day was coming for a long time.

"Some baby Pokemon have been delivered to the lab," she informed, hanging up a tea towel and turning to her daughter, "I would like you to go visit them for me."

The mother grinned to herself as her daughter's eyes lit up with excitement. No matter how upset she was about the circumstances, the prospect of meeting pokemon always brought joy to her. But her excitement soon died down as she remembered what she was really there for.

"Okay," she said softly, almost forgetting to answer. "I'll go get dressed." She added. She forced a smile but her mother caught on immediately.

"Charlotte, wait," snapped her mother once more, "I'm not finished." Charlotte's false grin drooped as she turned back. Her mother's gaze had an edge to it once more – a particular sharpness that Charlotte had become accustomed to. The cheery mood she had been in was dampened as a silence passed between the pair, the munching of pokemon the only sound in the room.

"No hesitating or worrying," she said.

Charlotte would have been overjoyed at the chance – what child doesn't want a pokemon? But she knew what her mother meant by all this. She would not be given a pokemon just to love and nurture as a companion – this was a rite of passage that sent all trainers on their journeys. She wanted to get swept up in the duties and traditions of trainers in the slightest. Her mother tapped her nails on the linoleum, gaze hardening as her daughter began to argue.

"We…we've talked a-about this," she muttered. "I don't want to be a trainer. I want pokemon, y-yeah but I just w-want to keep…" She trailed off with a frustrated sigh – her mother was too intense for her to argue against. Charlotte was aware that things would end this way. She had spoken at length about it with a good friend of hers and he had managed to reduce her fears towards the idea.

"You are becoming a trainer and that is final," said her mother, "It runs in your – our - blood."

Charlotte was silent, her fixed on her dirty feet. Her mother sighed softly as she shook her head in dismay. Despite her harsh attitude towards her daughter she still loved her deeply and wished for her to be happy. Therefore she had to put aside some of her own beliefs and ways to make a deal with her daughter that would ultimately benefit them both.

"If you wish to become a ranger so much, collect all the badges of this region. Then I will allow you to follow that silly dream of yours."

Charlotte's gaze remained on her feet, eyes stinging. She had cried enough about this – she had no more tears to give. She didn't want to challenge all those strong people - pokemon would get hurt and she didn't want that. She just wanted to be a ranger and help everyone like her heroes on the television.

"Charlotte," she said, much kinder this time, "Do it in honour of our family, for your dreams. This is very important. You may not realise this now but in the future you will look back upon your journey with a smile."

After another awkward, heavy silence, the young girl spoke up, meeting her mother's gaze with determined eyes. "I know and I'll try," she replied. "But only if you really promise to let me be a ranger after this."

"I promise," her mother hesitantly replied, holding her pinkie finger aloft. Her daughter smiled slowly, though there was still apprehension in her blue-grey eyes. Charlotte was frightened and reluctant to do as her mother instructed - it was dangerous and difficult out there but it was for her mother and her dream.

"Pinkie promise," she chirped, wrapping her pinkie around her mother's. The mood lightened, as if a weight had been taken off their shoulders. Charlotte left the living room to get her things ready. She would have to pass through Violet City in order to progress, but she would not be returning home. This would be the last time she would see her home for a long time.

She threw on her day clothes, tugged a brush through her messy locks and slung her rucksack, which she had prepared yesterday, over her slender shoulders. It was lighter than she expected, making her worry that she was not bringing enough.

Once she had prepared herself as much as possible, she headed back downstairs and towards the door, turning towards her mother. She was now sitting on the couch with an espeon curled in her lap, worry etched in the wrinkles of her face. Hypno was awake now and staring at Charlotte with pride gleaming in his beady eyes.

"Will…will I be okay?" she asked, hovering around the door, feeling as though her exit was a little unceremonious – this was meant to be important and she felt like she was missing something.

"You will be fine," she said as she stroked the espeon's ears. As she stared at the form of her daughter by the door, her heart couldn't help but ache. She hadn't let her daughter stray too far from her line of sight before – this world was incredibly dangerous and packed with monsters that could maul her if they were provoked enough.

She looked so small standing there. Her blue-grey eyes were wide and shimmering with nerves, anticipation and fear. She's a girl who would work tirelessly to get what she wants, to follow her dreams, to do what she believes is right. But her curiosity, fear and shyness always got in the way.

"Okay," Charlotte agreed, "Oh! And I'll get to say hi to Gold while I'm there too," she added as an afterthought. "He can probably give me some advice." Her mother nodded, her expression becoming serious as she got to her feet, the espeon leaping off her lap and trotting at her heels. She sauntered up to her daughter, peering down at her through her spectacles.

"On your way back through the city, you are to challenge the monks to help you prepare for your journey," she instructed. Charlotte nodded reluctantly – she knew how strong those monks were and was scared but at least they were kind. She rested her hands on her daughter's shoulders before pulling her into a hug.

Charlotte buried her pudgy face into the woman's shoulder, taking in her comforting scent of baked goods and pokemon fur. She clung to her like she would never see her again, her body shaking all over. Her mother broke off from her, tucking a stray lock of tangled orange hair behind the young girl's ear.

Hypno's bones audibly creaked with the effort as he got to his feet and drew Charlotte into another hug. Once she pulled away, she felt a sudden weight at her chest. Looking down, she found that her grandfather had slipped his pendent around her neck. Surprised, she looked up and opened her mouth to protest but he held up a hand and shook his hand.

Her mother smiled softly at him, then at her daughter. "He'll be watching over you so make sure you don't get into any trouble – we'll be the first to hear of it." Charlotte giggled half-heartedly. Both she and her mother were surprised that the hypno had given up the pendent – it was one of his species most prized possessions. "Remember to call me every day from the pokemon centre," she said firmly. "Take good care of your pokemon and remember what I have taught you."


	2. One in Three

**Chapter Two: Trainers**

It was a lengthy trek, taking until late morning for Charlotte to reach New Bark Town. She had made sure to avoid the tall grass, even taking detours to assure she wouldn't have any surprise encounters.

Her heart skipped a beat upon catching sight of the whirring wind turbines, the breeze picking up as she approached the town. She passed by white picket fences, the grass tickling her ankles. The ocean glittered in the distance and the faint roar of the waves could be heard. The air smelt like freshly cut grass and sea salt.

It was a beautiful scene and she was quite distracted by it until she remembered what she was there for. With a rapidly beating heart, she scanned the pale green houses with an excited grin. Her eyes rested upon a building that was larger than the others with a wooden sign that read 'Pokemon Lab'. She wondered why she hadn't spotted it the moment she walked into the town.

"Oi! Charlotte!" exclaimed a familiar voice. She turned towards the sound, ears pricked and eyes wide with anticipation. Suddenly, a pair of arms snaked around her, seemingly out of nowhere. Fearfully, she screamed and kicked at her captor. Unfortunately, he was much stronger than her and just laughed loudly at her attempts.

Then she realised it was only Gold. She stopped struggling and he let go of her, still laughing. A blush crept over her cheeks in embarrassment. She crossed her arms, trying to make herself look tough.

"Don't do that," she huffed. However, she couldn't help but begin to smile; after all, it had been just under two years since she had last seen him. She had missed him. The story of how they met is a simple one: Gold had travelled to Violet City during the early days of his adventure and, through a series of events, they became friends.

"If you don't want me to scare you then pay more attention to what's going on," he grinned, flicking her forehead. She smiled weakly, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.

"Yeah," she giggled.

For a moment, she wondered if this was the same boy she knew a couple years back. There was little difference in his appearance; same raven black hair that stuck at odd angles out of his cap, same cheeky golden eyes, and same mischievous grin. He trusty fire type still stood by his side, though he had now fully evolved into a typhlosion. No matter how hard Charlotte stared at him, she couldn't figure out what was missing.

"Anyway," he said, smirking, "I bet you're here to hear about my epic journey."

She wanted to see him and hear his story, sure, but she was here for the new pokemon. She found herself caught between staying to hear Gold's story and meeting some pokemon. After a mental debate, she decided she'd see the pokemon first, then promptly attend Gold's adventure lecture.

"Of course!" she said enthusiastically, not wanting to offend him. "But I have to see the new Pokemon first. I'm…uh…supposed to be getting one for my journey."

Remembrance flashed in Gold's eyes as he recalled seeing a delivery truck roll up to the lab the day previous. It must have contained a shipment of starter Pokemon for the coming of age trainers. A large grin grew on the boy's face as he gazed down at the short girl. It was about time: she was eleven and had barely set foot outside of Violet City.

"Oh, yeah! Old man Elm said that your mum called him about that!" exclaimed Gold before he grabbed her wrist roughly. "Let's go then!"

He basically dragged Charlotte towards the lab. She almost tripped over a couple times on the way there but he mercilessly continued tugging her onwards, spouting random stories on the way. She found it funny actually, both her clumsiness and his boastful tales.

As soon as they reached the lab, the older boy unceremoniously shoved Charlotte through the electronic sliding doors, chuckling. He smiled mischievously and waved at her through the glass, eager to see which pokemon she would choose. Charlotte just waved at him awkwardly before turning her back on him and heading deeper into the lab.

She fiddled with the zip of her jacket nervously as her eyes searched the room for any signs of somebody professor-looking. Orderly rows of shelves filled the room, containing many strange scientific doodads that Charlotte couldn't even begin to recognise. There were a few work desks here and there, papers and books stacked upon them, big words written on them that she hadn't learnt. She was constantly reminding herself not to touch anything.

She reached the back of the room, spotting some machinery. One of them she recognised as a healing station similar to that of a Pokemon Center, hooked up to a large laptop on a nearby desk. Another large machine caught her eye, though she had no clue what it was. Her eyes traced over the three circular indents behind a thick shield of glass. Each indent held a glossy pokeball.

"Hello there," said a sudden voice, followed by the loud smack of a pile of books being placed down. Charlotte screamed loudly in fright, accidently tripping over a bundle of cords and landing heavily on her behind. She immediately noticed that it was just the professor she had been looking for earlier.

"Oh sorry for scaring you!' apologised the professor, trying to comfort the girl. Charlotte nodded, waving her hand back and forth as if dusting the comment away, unable to speak still. She carefully got to her feet, backing away a little in order to keep her distance from the man. He looked and acted exactly the same to the way he did on the television.

"N-no problem," she replied meekly, her stuttering making things more awkward, "I-I came here to see the new p-pokemon."

"Oh…," he muttered, his eyebrows knitting together as he tried to remember anybody calling him about this issue in advance. He vaguely remembered a stern woman yelling at him over the telephone about something to do with her daughter. He nodded in understanding and set down the remaining books and papers he was carrying. "Well, let's have a look at them."

Charlotte nodded, though she remained cautious. She generally didn't talk to people she didn't know well simply because 'stranger danger' - she did not know what they were thinking about her, or what they were planning to do with her. She picked at a loose thread on her shorts, her hands shaking slightly.

The professor opened a panel on the side of the machine, tapping in a code using the keys. With a whir of hydraulic powered gear, the glass shield began to slide down. Charlotte's eyes lit up with pure glee as the professor removed the pokeballs, ready to display the pokemon within. He gestured to the girl with a nod of her head. She slowly approached the man, as if the pokeballs would disappear if she made too much noise.

"Now which one would you like to look at first?" smiled the Professor.

She pointed to a pokeball in his right hand, unsure which one to pick first as she knew that all three of them contained amazing pokemon. Upon pressing the button on the centre, a burst of red light erupted from the ball which quickly materialized into the form of a small Pokemon.

It tilted its head as it studied her with expressionless, ruby red eyes. A forest green leaf that was longer than its body sprouted from its head, shaking slightly from side to side. There was a necklace of buds around its neck which Charlotte assumed would blossom into flowers. A soothing aroma wafted from the Pokemon; calming her down.

"A chikorita," she recognised. It made happy little noises upon hearing its name, its eyes filling with kindness. Her fear quickly draining away, Charlotte gingerly reached out to pet it.

"Now for cyndaquil," smiled the Professor, releasing the Pokemon hiding within the second pokeball.

Charlotte's eyes were drawn from chikorita to a flash of bright red light and flames. This pokemon peered up at her with a mildly irritated expression, its eyes squinted closed. It had dark green fur with a creamy white underside, flames rising from four red spots on its back, flickering to and fro.

Charlotte, just like she had done with chikorita, reached out to pet it. However, this pokemon took it much differently. It began to growl the closer the girl's fingers got to it, prompting her to draw her hand away quickly, worried that it may try to hurt her.

"Don't mind him, he's just a little bad tempered," soothed Professor Elm, not wanting the pokemon to give the wrong impression.

"That's okay," replied Charlotte cheerily, scooting a couple meters away from the pokemon, "I bet he's just nervous."

Cyndaquil made a huffing sound, turning its fiery back to the girl and professor arrogantly. Chikorita just sighed, as if she had been dealing with the fire type her entire life.

"Now for the final pokemon, Totodile," concluded the Professor, pressing the button on the final pokeball.

In another burst of crimson light, the final starter pokemon materialized upon the table. This one merely glanced at Charlotte with his big blue eyes, sparkling with unshed tears. Upon realising that someone was watching, it wiped its tears away with its scaly paw. It was bigger than the other pokemon, standing at around two feet tall. It had blue, scaly skin with a thin patch of yellow scales across its belly. An array of red spikes trailed down its spine, its mouth lined with sharp fangs, one of which being larger than the others.

Charlotte's smile softened as she reached out to pet this pokemon, wondering why it was so sad. The pokemon tensed, unsure whether it should let this stranger touch him. It backed away from her a little in its hesitance. "Don't be sad," she muttered in an attempt to soothe it.

"We don't know why he's been so upset," said Professor Elm, scratching his scalp in confusion. "We've been treating him with the upmost care and love like all the other pokemon here."

Charlotte nodded, not in understanding, but to show that she heard him. She dropped her hand back to her side, unsure of what to do now. Her eyes glanced from pokemon to pokemon and she smiled at each one, pleased that she had been given the privilege to meet such rare pokemon.

Now she had to choose one. This pokemon would become her partner who she would nurture and care for with all her heart. It would defend her and offer her its company in return. She could barely believe that she was free to choose from any one of these pokemon – they were all great. Her brow furrowed as she tried to come to a decision.

"Take your time," said the professor. "Choose whichever one resonates with you the most."

She turned her attention towards totodile. She wasn't sure why she was so drawn to him but something about him evoked a feeling of unexplainable fondness and a desire to protect him. She stared at each pokemon, but every time her eyes seemed to wander back to the totodile. The water type gazed at her with mixed expressions of curiosity, wonder and fear as the girl's blue-grey eyes settled upon him.

"I…choose you," she muttered, almost under her breath. There was no helping it – she was completely biased. She wanted nothing more than to make him happy and take him out to see the world with her.

The Pokémon's eyes widened in surprise dumbfounded that he had been chosen as a partner on such an important journey. However, the shock was short-lived. His lips parted in the toothiest grin Charlotte had ever seen, his eyes squinted closed, cheeks dusted with pink. He had no idea who this girl was but that didn't matter – he'd finally be given the chance to battle.

"Alright you two," the professor interjected, the girl and pokemon turning their attention towards him. He held a tray out to her and she peered at it curiously, taking note of what was displayed. Five minimalized pokeballs, a pastel pink, brand new pokedex and a metallic badge case was present.

She picked up the pokeballs, tucking them into a compartment into her backpack. While she was putting away the badge case and inspecting her pokedex, the professor returned totodile to his pokeball and handed it to her. She clicked it into her belt.

She was hit with a wave of disbelief at the fact that she had a real, live pokemon strapped to her belt.

Awed, she switched on her pokedex. After a period of loading, a menu screen was displayed. From there, she could view her personal details and information about the pokemon she had seen so far. There was a separate section for the pokemon in her team. She could see a little totodile icon beside a bar of green, with the number 'five' beside it.

"This pokedex will serve as both your personal ID and the identification system necessary for storing information about seen and caught pokemon. It will track the strength of your pokemon through the Aptitude Recognition Scale, ARS."

Charlotte was beside herself with joy and gratitude as she bowed before the professor. "T-thank you for my pokemon and pokedex - I-I couldn't have a-asked for more," she stumbled, cheeks dusted pink.

He chuckled heartily in response. "Well, I suggest that it's high time you got going," he said.

Charlotte nodded as her gaze drifted towards the window. Gold was no longer standing there which meant he probably got bored of waiting and wandered off. Her nerves began to build up again. She was officially a trainer now, meaning that once she headed out onto the routes again, there was a high chance of her being asked to battle.

"Yeah…I guess so."

The electronic doors opened and closed, letting the young girl out. She sighed heavily, feeling a little dizzy and nauseous. As a trainer, many adventures lay in the future along with new dangers and struggles. She was downright terrified but she knew that there was absolutely no turning back now – she had to be strong.

She was distracted from her thoughts a sharp shake to her shoulders which prompted her head to loll back and forth. "S-stop!" she said, startled. Once she was released, she found that it was Gold who had disturbed her. He chuckled and bent down a little to her eye level.

"So which one did you choose?" he asked, eyeing off her belt with curiosity in his golden eyes. Charlotte grinned as she removed totodile's pokeball, a rush of joy and pride overtaking her as she eagerly let him out of the ball. In a burst of red light, the pokemon appeared at their feet.

The totodile glared up at the trainers with wide eyes, feet shuffling a little. He was about as clueless as Charlotte was in terms of how to deal with his new situation. He glanced rapidly between her and Gold, tapping his tail on the ground nervously.

"Totodile huh? I'm more of a cyndaquil kind of guy," he jested, gesturing to the typhlosion at his heels. Said pokemon was busy staring at totodile intensely, making him feel more uncomfortable. "But totodile's cool, don't get me wrong." Gold knelt down to the pokemon, placing a heavy hand on top of his head. "Nice to meet 'cha."

It was then that the pokemon was startled enough to bite down on his hand. Gold yelped in shock and pain, stumbling over backwards. He waved his arm up and down, trying his hardest to loosen the pokemon's grip on his hand. His typlosion was trying to help by tugging on the blue pokemon which only caused more pain for Gold. Charlotte was in a panic, fumbling with totodile's pokemon as she withdrew him.

"S-sorry I don't k-know what got into him," Charlotte apologised, reaching out to take Gold's hand and inspect it for wounds. He pulled away though, chuckling a little sheepishly.

"Nah, it's nothing. Didn't even break the skin," he chided. "He's got a strong jaw though – he was holding back. In time he'll get less freaked out around trainers, trust me."

Charlotte did trust him. She nodded as he got to his feet, dusting dirt of his clothes. He had offered her quite a few titbits of advice the first time they met, and during their consecutive video calls, all of which she had tried to take into consideration. Some of it, however, probably wasn't useful or entirely legal though.

"I hope so," she muttered. Gold placed a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at him.

Gold opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted. "Struggling with baby pokemon Gold?"

They turned towards the sound of the voice, seeing that it was a red-headed boy around Gold's age who had spoken. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his black and red lined jacket, his lips twisted into a menacing smirk. At his heels stomped a large feraligatr, one that glared just as sharply as his trainer did. Charlotte cowered behind Gold as he stepped forward. The flames on his tyhplosion's back flickered and flared stronger in defence.

"Me, a pokemon breeder, struggling with baby pokemon?" Gold snorted. "Really Silver?"

The boy stopped a few feet away from Gold, still smirking. "That wasn't your pokemon was it?" Charlotte simply gazed at him with wide, blue-grey eyes. She had never actually seen Silver in person, only on news programs and such. She had always found him intimidating, even on a screen.

The boy gave off a menacing aura, acting like he had the power to do whatever he wished with little effort. And that feraligatr looked like it could tear her to shreds. She was relieved that Fang was safe inside his pokeball – he probably would be just as scared as she was.

"Nope," replied Gold, ruffling Charlotte's carrot-orange hair. "It's my friend here's. She literally just got him." Silver's gaze turned to the girl, steely gaze boring straight through her. She shuddered.

"You better start disciplining him. Otherwise he'll never be strong," he advised. His feraligatr huffed in approval. "Weak trainers make for weak pokemon, remember that. And right now, you look pretty weak to me."

Gold rolled his eyes. He was used to this kind of thing from Silver. He was different from when he first met him: just that little bit kinder towards his pokemon and the people around him. But that didn't mean he'd completely changed. Charlotte simply nodded, unable to open her mouth to speak.

"Oh come on, Silver. Don't be an ass," defended Gold. "Anyway, what brings you back here? I thought you were done with this place."

"Professor Elm says he needs us to do something for him," Silver explained in a monotone, like he didn't care.

Gold seemed annoyed by this. "But I've done tons for him already. I filled up an entire pokedex and helped get rid of yet another Team Rocket infestation. What more could he want?" he complained, folding his arms behind his head.

"I have better things I need to be doing," said his rival, annoyance tinting his tone as well. "But apparently this is urgent and he needs 'the aid of the best trainers in Johto'."

"I thought he hated you for stealing that Totodile and being an all-round douchebag," said Gold, confused as to why Elm had suddenly become so forgiving after holding a grudge for so long.

Silver shrugged, though his hands tightened into fists. "Like I said, it must be pretty damn important if he needs us. I wouldn't have shown up here if it wasn't important." They glared at one another for a few moments. Charlotte didn't really understand what they were talking about or that look in their eyes. It was like they were having a conversation only they could understand.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming," groaned Gold finally, getting to his feet. He was pouting like a child. "I'll be back soon," he said to Charlotte. "You head over to Cherrygrove. I still got to tell you my story. Oh, and I got something to give you too." Charlotte nodded with a smile on her face at the promise of a present.

"O-okay! Bye!" she yelled after him, waving as she watched the rivals head off in the direction of the lab, their pokemon bickering behind them.

For a moment, Charlotte wondered if she'd end up with a rival like that.

The air smelt like it does in New Bark Town, but with an added fragrance of sweet flowers. Cherry blossom trees shook in the breeze, scattering pink petals all over the ground. The ocean was not far from them, the sound of waves relaxing Charlotte. She fiddled with a petal in her hands as Gold went on about his journey.

She had let totodile out again, cautiously. He was currently sitting beside her, eating some cherry blossom petals absentmindedly. His gaze was fixed on the ocean, as if he was mesmerised. Charlotte had scanned him with her newly acquired pokedex: he was level five, had the ability Torrent, and knew the moves scratch and leer.

She decided to name him Fang. Gold laughed at the name but totodile seemed pleased with it.

"…Then I lost but only just, it was down to one on one," concluded Gold, making a dramatic pose, "I would have won if the wind wasn't blowing so much at that moment. But get this, after our battle? The guy totally disappeared like a ghost or something." He finished speaking, an arrogant grin on his face. He loved boasting about his adventure with his pokemon, especially to those that were easily impressed.

Charlotte began to clap enthusiastically, having been listening to him the whole time with an excited smile, and reacting to everything he said. A light tint of pink spread over Gold's cheeks, his grin becoming goofy as he greedily took her praise to heart.

"So, what do you think about trainers now?" he asked. He knew she still was very hesitant towards the concept due to her dreams of being a ranger, and her beliefs surrounding that.

Charlotte thought for a moment. It sounded like trainers did amazing things, sure, but that didn't mean she was any more inclined to fully embrace it. From what she had seen on television, there were more bad trainers than there were rangers. She didn't want to let Gold down but she was just not completely comfortable with pitting her beloved pokemon against others.

"They're okay…I-I guess. As long as they're good people and take care of their pokemon," she replied quietly, focusing on Fang. He was busy trying to scratch an itch on his back with his stubby arms. Slowly, she reached out to do it for him. He flinched but allowed her to touch him anyway.

Gold nodded approvingly. "I feel the same way. What's the point in being a trainer if all you're going to do is treat your pokemon like shit." Charlotte snapped her head towards him like she had just been zapped by an electric pokemon.

"…treat pokemon like _garbage_ , I mean," he corrected with a chuckle.

Charlotte hummed in compliance, feeling rather weary all of a sudden. It was only midday and she was already tired from all the walking and excitement. She would sleep well tonight. The thought of her having to take on the monks that afternoon was enough to keep her awake. She stared at Fang, hoping that the grass types would go easy on him with his typing and all.

Charlotte thought hard about life with a pokemon, all the doors that were now being held open to her. She could walk around in tall grass without getting hurt by wild pokemon, she could sail the seas, climb mountains, touch the clouds, make her mother proud; so many things. But no matter what fantasies she conjured, they remained only that, fantasies, something that would never happen. Without realising it, she began to go on about all these desires to Gold.

"Then when Fang gets big we can cross whirlpool islands and…," she trailed off, trying to think of other things they could do together, having listed off many, many suggestions to her friend, wondering what he would think of them. He tried his best to listen but his mind had a habit of drifting elsewhere when he was bored.

"Gold, have you ever done stuff like that?" she asked out of the blue, innocent eyes gazing into his. He felt as though he was obligated to answer, say something that would encourage her to put up with being a trainer for as long as possible.

"Yeah…I've done all of that for sure," he said with a cocky grin, ruffling her already messy hair once more, "And maybe you can too…probably not as awesomely as me though."

"I hope I can, that would be cool," she smiled, lying on her back and gazing at the cloudless sky. As she did so, she absentmindedly stroked Fang's back, the young pokemon making clicking sounds that were similar to a Meowth's purr but with more pitch to it. He was more relaxed now but Charlotte could tell that his muscles were still tensed. Fang didn't trust her yet – they had only just met. "Don't you think so Fang?" The water type nodded, though his mind was elsewhere.

"Oh yeah!" shouted Gold suddenly, startling Charlotte and Fang. "I've got a present for you."

Curious, Charlotte perked up like a growlithe being offered a treat. Fang also seemed interested, though he was less curious.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands," the boy said mischievously, rummaging around in his backpack in search of the gift he had procured for his friend.

Charlotte frowned, wanting to see her present straight away. Nonetheless, she closed her eyes and held her hands out, holding her breath in anticipation, curiosity bubbling within her. She waited for what felt like forever until the golden eyed boy set a glass case into her outstretched hands. It was heavy enough that she almost dropped it.

"Surprise!" he cheered. Charlotte's eyes flew open as soon as the words left his lips. She gasped in astonishment upon seeing the contents of the glass case: a delicate egg sat upon a violet cushion, speckled with triangles of various colours and shades. The young girl's heart skipped a beat once she realised that this was hers to keep.

Fang's clawed hands pressed against the glass as he gazed intently at the fragile object within. She had just received her first pokemon not long ago and already she had received another? She felt like she was about to pass out with astonishment.

"A-are y-you sure I can h-have it?" she stuttered through her excitement.

"Yeah, duh, why would I give it to you otherwise, dummy?" he chuckled, drooping his arm around her shoulder in a strange one sided hug. "Plus, I have plenty of eggs just like that one back home," he added, a look on his face Charlotte couldn't read. Long story short, Gold had recently taken in a female togetic which was very popular with males.

"Hey Charlotte," said Gold. His voice was distant and wistful, a tone she had never heard him take before. She turned her full attention towards him. He locked gazes with her. "You enjoy this adventure okay? You got to have fun or else it's just not worth it. Do what you want and don't let anyone hold you back. Live a life with no regrets."

She looked at him like he was the wisest boy on the face of the planet, prompting him to laugh. "Heh, heh, or something like that. I thought you deserved a kind of inspirational speech before you get going."

Charlotte giggled. "Thank you Gold, for everything." He had really helped streamline this whole 'becoming a trainer' process.

"Oh come on, don't get sappy with me!" he pouted and folded his arms in a lame attempt to look displeased. "This meant to be a beginning not an end!"

Without warning, Charlotte brought him into a hug, blushing as she wrapped her arms around his chest. He hesitated for a moment before embracing her. He was a little surprised to find how tense Charlotte was – she must be really nervous. He didn't blame her; she wasn't nearly as brave as he was.

"Geez," he muttered as they broke apart.

"Oh…I guess it's time to head back," Charlotte said, breaking away from her friend. Embarrassed by the hug, she avoided eye contact. She still had to take on Sprout Tower, as much as she didn't want to force her little partner pokemon into battling so soon. Alas, that was the fate of a trainer's pokemon.

"Sorry Fang but…I guess our first battle's going to be a little sooner than it should be," Charlotte apologised in advance. She had expected the young pokemon to get a little upset or worried but, to her surprise, a cocky grin drew up the corners of his mouth, as if he had been waiting for those words all his life.

Her heart fell as she returned him to his pokeball and tucked the pokemon egg into her rucksack. She got up out of the flowers, dusting dirt and petals off of her, before saying her goodbyes to Gold.

"I'll see you around Johto, Charlotte," he beamed, waving her off. She returned his wave as she ventured in the direction of Violet City. Adrenalin and anxiety pounded through her veins at the thought of the battles that were to come. She couldn't help but think of the worst.


	3. Unwanted Battles

**Chapter Three: Unwanted Battles**

By mid-afternoon Charlotte had returned to Violet City, tuning into the bustling sounds and voices of trainers and travellers who were now well into their day. She had taken special care to avoid both tall grass and trainers this time but she knew she couldn't avoid it forever – Fang would need to grow stronger in order to face off against gym leaders.

She didn't want to think about gym leaders yet, especially not the gym leader of her own city. Long story short, his family doesn't get along well with her mother and as such he wouldn't go easy on her. Her mother never told her much about the incident but apparently there was 'foul play' involved.

Sending Fang out, she set her eyes on the tower poking out amongst the trees and houses. The pokemon barely recognised her as being there – he was overjoyed to be outside and in a brand new place with new sights, smells and tastes. He would have scurried off if he hadn't noticed his trainer.

Charlotte's sneakers clunked against the dark violet, wooden bridge, following by the tap of Fang's clawed feet. Her eyes skimmed over the watery pond as a politoad splashed past, wandering up the ancient pagoda before her. Her partner did the same, mouth agape as he leaned right back, unable to see the top due to his short stature.

The lanterns hanging from the eaves of the wooden pagoda emitted a vague glow that was easily missed in the midday sun. Roof tiles were missing here and there but all in all, the pagoda was well cared for, even after all the years it had been left standing. The people of this city really tried their best to keep the city's rustic façade.

Charlotte stopped in her tracks, as if caught by an invisible force. There was no way she could do this; it was too soon and too hard. She hovered around the entrance of the pagoda, worries streaming through her mind.

Fang thought that all trainers would leap at the chance to battle. Apparently he was taught wrong. He began to get a little impatient, wanting to participate in his first battle as soon as possible. He began to inch closer and closer to the entrance to the pagoda.

Ultimately Fang simply ignored his trainer and headed into the pagoda without her. Charlotte noticed soon after he did so, panicking even more. She called his name as she hurried inside after him, berating herself for not paying attention to her newly acquired pokemon.

Wooden bellsprout statues were situated on each side of the entrance. Bald monks dressed in long, deep violet and white robes bustled about, going about their daily business. A tourist or two milled around, taking photos of the pillar in the centre of the room. Fang was instantly drawn to the pillar's hypnotic, swaying movements. The entire pagoda seemed to creak and groan with each sway, as if about to collapse. Yet it stayed strong.

Charlotte was less awed by the interior of the tower than her pokemon as she had visited it many times before. However, the swaying pillar always entranced her and it was a good thing it did as she soon spotted Fang near it. The girl wandered to his side, relieved that she had caught up with him. Side by side, they stared upwards at the pillar, utterly enthralled. As such, they failed to notice one of the monks approaching them from behind.

"That pillar was once a hundred foot long bellsprout," he spoke, startling them.

Charlotte nearly jumped out of her skin as she whipped around. Fang emitted a short growl and bared his fangs as his eyes locked on the monk. The man held his hands up in innocence, apologising for startling them. Charlotte sighed in relief upon realising that he was not a ninja about to attack her. Fang closed his jaw and gazed blankly at the monk, admiring how shiny his head was.

"Have you two come here to challenge my brothers on the upper floors?" he asked, tucking his hands into his sleeves, a gentle smile on his lips.

Charlotte stared down at her feet, feeling nervous once more. "Yes…I guess s-so," she muttered.

"You must be a new trainer," chuckled the monk. "Don't worry; they will have mercy on you."

Charlotte sighed in relief again; glad that she wouldn't be having any epic, hardcore battles right away. Feeling a little reassured, she straightened up and smiled sheepishly. "I j-just got my s-starter a few hours ago." Her totodile nodded vaguely in confirmation.

"Oh dear," chuckled the monk again, "Well, most of my brothers are training right now but I'm sure a few of them will be willing to have a battle with you and your partner. Don't worry, you shouldn't have to fight too many."

"Thank you," said Charlotte, feeling a little less nervous after hearing the monk's kind words.

After another 'Fang biting things he shouldn't' moment, the monk led the girl and her pokemon towards a ladder, clutching his bite-mark ridden scalp. An occasional shout could be heard from upstairs. Shakily, she began to climb up the ladder with her totodile hitching a ride on her rucksack.

Upon reaching the second floor, she studied her new surroundings with butterfree fluttering in her stomach. Fang hovered around her legs, eyes wide with excitement. Monks were busy battling, calling out attack names for their nearly identical Bellsprout. The loud noises from their attacks echoed around the room. Despite the pokemon's small size and goofy appearance, these ones were clearly formidable. The look in their eyes matched that of their trainers, determined and utterly committed to their training.

Charlotte shuddered nervously as she watched them, feeling awkward, like she wasn't meant to be there. Scenarios ran through her head, the majority of them being situations in which she embarrassed herself or lost the fight and her pokemon were badly injured. What if her mother got angry at her for losing? How does one go about battling anyway? She was terrified. Fang harboured no such thoughts, he was entirely enthralled by the training bellsprout, admiring their strength.

She took a deep breath and rummaged around in her bag for the notebook she had brought with her, along with her pokedex. Sitting down, she flipped through the book for the information about battling. Upon finding it, she read it over a few times before checking Fang's moves. She didn't have much to work with considering their lack of experience. Nevertheless, reading over her mother's words comforted her.

Her totodile was beginning to yearn to battle one of those powerful bellsprout. He knew that after a quick lashing from its roots, he would be out cold due to his weakness. That didn't matter to him – the more thrilling the battle, the better.

Sighing expansively, Charlotte called to Fang as she began slowly approach a monk. He was sitting with his back to the wall, feeding his Bellsprout some pokemon food. They seemed to be close – who knows how many years they had been training together. She didn't want to disturb him but she knew she must and she was getting tired of being so nervous.

The monk looked up at her once he noticed her standing before him. Her gaze was focused on the swaying pillar as she asked him, "C-can I battle with you?"

The monk smiled at the shy girl and nodded in agreement. "Sure, there is no need to be nervous," he said reassuringly. "I'll go easy on you," he added upon seeing the water starter pokemon at her side. Fang frowned at this – he didn't want to be given any mercy he could take them for sure.

The monk assumed that this was the girl's first battle together and guided her through the set up. He told her to stand a few metres back from him so that there was plenty of room to fight and allowed her to have the first move. Charlotte knew about all this but his babying was reassuring.

Charlotte's heart beat rapidly in her chest, pumping fear and adrenalin through her veins as she watched her pokemon step out before her, preparing to battle. The young pokemon was filled with excitement and anticipation, eager to see where this battle was going to end up. His tail was wagging as he resisted the urge to leap straight into battle.

"Okay," Charlotte muttered under her breath. "I should start with a status weakening move."

"F-Fang use leer," she said meekly. Fang didn't need to be told twice. Promptly, he turned to his opponent, a spritely bellsprout, his eyes locking with the grass type in a glare. His lips pulled back, revealing sharp, pearly white fangs, a low growl gurgling at the back of his throat. Bellsprout seemed intimidated by Fang's cold glare, shuddering and back away from him a little.

"Relax bellsprout and use vine whip," called the monk calmly – he had done this a thousand times. Bellsprout crawled forward on its roots, languidly lashing its leaves at Fang's scaly skin. He winced and recoiled in pain, teeth gritted. Excitement still glittered in his eyes – he was determined to win this first battle.

"Okay, um, use scratch," she called. She didn't really know if she was doing things right but she figured that because bellsprout had been frightened by leer, he wouldn't be able to defend himself as well.

Fang leapt forward, grinning wildly as he struck the bellsprout, slashing at its face with his clawed hands, leaving stinging scratches before jumping back to the space in front of his trainer. He struck before the frightened pokemon could react and, just like Charlotte had predicted, it did more damage than normal.

"Good move, that's the way it's done," encouraged the monk. "But in a serious battle, the opposing pokemon will not wait until the other has finished its move. In fact, many of your opponents will be very crafty with their attacks in order to outsmart you."

Charlotte absorbed his advice with a nod, her attention trained onto the bellsprout as she awaited its attack. Fang did the same, his lips curled with an arrogant smirk after having delivered his move so successfully.

"Bellsprout, plant your roots in between the floor boards," he commanded, his pokemon responding immediately by extending its gnarled roots between the floorboards beneath it. Charlotte, confused, did nothing but watch. Fang remained on edge, glancing about him in case of a surprise attack.

"Do it." Suddenly, roots curled around Fang's heels, prompting him to flap his arms desperately in order to stay balanced. Before he could do anything to free himself, vines slashed at his skin, making him growl in pain once more, painful red marks appearing in the places he was hit. Not only that, but the vines absorbed some of the moisture from his skin which was crucial in maintaining his strength. Fang staggered backwards, his previous arrogance disappearing from his mind entirely as he tried to stay composed.

"A-are you okay Fang?" Charlotte asked him fearfully, worried that the bellsprout had seriously hurt him. Even though it was not her getting hurt physically, it hurt her emotionally to see the pokemon she had chosen as her partner being wounded. This was precisely the reason she was so against becoming a trainer.

Fang gazed up at his trainer, determination in his eyes. He used his claws to cut away the roots, freeing himself. Judging from bellsprout's flinching, the action hurt it a little. Charlotte noticed this, hoping that she wasn't hurting it too much. "Scratch," she commanded, hoping that this would be the last attack she would have to land on the other pokemon.

Fang leapt forward, slashing his claws against Bellsprout once more. This time, the plant pokemon was not so resilient, tumbling to the ground in a heap of vines and leaves. For a moment, Charlotte wasn't sure what had just happened but she quickly realised, with a big, relieved smile that she had won her first battle. Fang turned to her, the same look on his face.

"We won!" the girl cheered. Fang poked his tongue out at the fainted bellsprout as it was withdrawn into its pokeball. Charlotte was relieved that the battle had not been the calamity she had worried it would be. "Uh…is your pokemon okay?" she asked, concerned for the health of the pokemon Fang had just beaten up.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," he comforted. Totodile hadn't hurt it enough for things to be serious. "Congratulations, you two," he clapped, proud of her. The last time he had seen her was when she was a little girl who rarely strayed from the door of the pagoda out of shyness. She had come so far.

Charlotte's nerves had disappeared, but her shyness remained, her eyes turning to the floor as she recovered from her victory. Fang quietened down immediately, though the exhilaration of battle lingered.

"But I'm going to warn you in advance, the higher you climb the more powerful my brothers and their bellsprout become. They will not go as easily on you as I did," warned the monk as he handed her a few coins of prize money. Charlotte was hesitant in accepting the money but the monk insisted, telling her that it was simply a common practice among trainers.

Charlotte thanked the monk for the battle, bowing slightly, before walking away, wondering if she should go for another battle or not. Most of the monks were training so fortunately, there were only two other monks in the room she could battle if she so wished. She didn't have any medicine for Fang with her, a very concerning fact, so she knew she would have to be careful if she were to continue.

She decided to consult her pokemon on the matter. "Should we keep going?" she asked him. He returned her stare with an excited gleam in his big blue eyes, nodding his head rapidly.

Charlotte took a deep breath, sighing heavily.

And so, the girl and her pokemon struggled through the following battles, learning things they never would have learnt in school. Charlotte learnt about critical hits, dodging and learnt that using leer and scratch in sequence was actually rather effective.

Things were immensely difficult and as Charlotte progressed through the various monks, she began to get more and more concerned about Fang's health. Upon facing her fourth opponent, Fang learnt water gun which came as a shock to the new trainer at first. Unfortunately, the move was completely useless on grass type pokemon; they absorbed it straight through their skin.

Charlotte found herself battling a monk significantly stronger than the others once she progressed to the second floor.

Fang was rather worn out by that point, his skin dry and sore after being attacked so many times by vine whip. Nevertheless, he was eager to take on his next opponent, thoroughly enjoying his experience. Charlotte on the other hand, was very worried about Fang's condition and had wanted to turn back, but he had progressed without her consent.

However, she was beginning to get into the role of a trainer, not minding battling so much. She called out moves; her pokemon followed them and won against the opposing pokemon, the both of them getting stronger in the process. It gave a sense of accomplishment and pride after each victory for both pokemon and trainer. Not only was that but the battle itself was invigorating and exciting, unpredictability never failing to make the battle more interesting.

The opposing monk sent out a Bellsprout, just like every other monk Charlotte had challenged so far. Fang trotted in front of his trainer, finding that he was a lot slower and wearier than he was earlier. Despite his waning strength, he grinned maliciously at his opponent, preparing to use leer.

However, before Charlotte could give her Totodile commands, the monk called, "Bellsprout, use growth."

The pair watched confusedly as Bellsprout used a move they did not recognise. The plant Pokémon's spritely body began to glow a bright, forest green as it grew in size. Once the light began to fade, Charlotte understood what the move's effect was - increasing the Pokémon's strength. The bellsprout was now an inch taller than it normally was, making Charlotte wince at the thought of how much its vine whip would sting.

"Leer," Charlotte commanded, hoping that they would be able to get a move in before Bellsprout did.

Fang growled ferociously at his opponent, raising his claws and narrowing his eyes in a menacing glare. This Bellsprout appeared to be less cowardly than the others; only showing a flicker of fear in its eyes.

"Now for scratch," said Charlotte, repeating the move sequence that they had been successfully using thus far.

Fang sprung forth, if not a bit sluggishly, claws raised in preparation. But before he could strike, the monk yelled sharply, "Vine whip." Charlotte's heart stopped for a split second as she frantically called out to her young Totodile to dodge but alas, he heard her too late.

She flinched as Bellsprout's strengthened vines slammed upon Fang's skull, shoving his face into the floor boards. In doing so, he managed to puncture his tongue with one of his many fangs, blood leaking from his mouth. He swayed dangerously as he stood up, trying his best to make it back to his trainer without collapsing. He promptly fainted at Charlotte's feet. Her eyes went wide with fear and shock.

Tears stung her eyes as she took the injured pokemon into her arms. This is exactly what she had feared. She had let him end up like this, having been too naïve to bring healing items with her and was unaware of his limits. She began to shudder upon seeing the blood in his mouth, her heart beating as rapidly as a torchic on meds.

"Don't blame yourself," said the victorious monk, returning his Bellsprout to its pokeball with a flash of red light. "The young one was not ready to challenge a grass type pokemon stronger than itself. I suggest you catch some pokemon that would cover your Totodile's weaknesses."

Charlotte barely heard him; she was too busy panicking over what to do next. The carrot haired girl got to her feet, cradling Fang gently. She knew that she must take him to the pokemon center, where they would be able to heal him up to full health. She bowed quickly before running off towards the ladder, tears dripping from her eyes, feeling critical of her foolishness.


	4. First Catch

**Chapter Four: First catch**

Later, Charlotte found herself at the pokemon center, waiting for the nurse to hand her partner back to her. An assortment of trainers bustled about her, though she paid no mind to them. She saw the pokemon center in a whole new light now. It wasn't just a place for her to play and meet new pokemon, it was a place where trainers could rest and restore their injured friends. She sipped at her lemonade, swinging her legs back and forth absentmindedly, trying not to think about anything in particular. She just revelled in her emotions.

Soon enough, her name was called, making her perk up in the direction of the counter. Tossing her empty can of lemonade in the trash, she scurried to the front desk, concern written on her fair features.

"Is Fang okay?" she gushed. The nurse almost giggled at the concerned reaction. She knew Charlotte well, as she had been working at the Pokemon Center long before her birth. She knew as well as anyone in Violet City that the girl wanted nothing more than to become a pokemon ranger and work with pokemon so to see her with a starter pokemon, taking it to be healed up after a battle, was rather shocking.

"Don't worry dear, he's perfectly fine," she replied sweetly. "He just needed some rest, a lot of water and a lollypop. All that blood you saw? He just bit his tongue. Chansey will bring him right out momentarily."

"T-thank goodness," she sighed heavily, relief washing over her. The nurse giggled at her overreaction, expecting as much.

"Never expected you to head down the path of trainers, Charlie," she noted languidly, "Why?"

Charlotte almost missed the woman's words, too distracted by the immense relief at knowing her partner was okay. She took a few moments to string her words together. "M-mum said I can't be a ranger until I-I challenge the Johto League," she explained.

The nurse shook her head in dismay. It was just like Janette to force her daughter to follow in her footsteps. She had to admit; she felt a little bad for her, considering that she was as timid as a rattata and would probably faint if she encountered pokemon even a quarter of the strength of the ones the old nurse had seen.

A cheery call from a chubby chansey distracted the pair from their conversation as the pokemon rolled a metal trolley towards Charlotte, a sleepy looking Totodile sitting upon it.

"Fang," smiled Charlotte. The Totodile blinked in confusion before remembering that was his name. He tilted his head towards his trainer and grinned, a large lollipop in his jaws. Absolutely relieved to see him, she leaned over and scooped him up from the tray, holding him gently in her arms. He tensed up for a moment, hesitantly resting his muscles again upon seeing the kind look in the girl's blue grey eyes.

Upon glancing outside, Charlotte almost jumped at how late it was. The sky was painted with pastel purple and orange, the clouds a peachy pink, illuminated by the rapidly setting sun. She had to be going – she couldn't stay in Violet City forever. But she would have to spend the night in the centre – there was no way she was going out this late.

"Thank you," she said softly. The nurse simply smiled and wished her luck.

She couldn't hold back more tears as she walked past many of the people she had grown to know and love over the years, waving them goodbye as she neared the southern exit of the town, the one closest to home. The children from her class at school chattered with her and fussed over her all the way to the lantern lined exit, the girl trying her best to say her goodbyes while explaining what had happened over the last couple of days.

She saw her mother on the way to the edge of town. All she did was nod and wave, disappointment thrilling through Charlotte – she had wanted just one last hug.

Taking a deep breath she stepped beyond the well-known path of Violet City, finally entering route 32. With her partner at her heels and a mysterious egg in her arms; she had begun her journey. A future of adventure lay before her and, despite the bittersweet emotions swirling within her, she was confronted with a single question; _what do I do now_?

She studied the route, eyes wide and glittering excitement as the scent of grass, earth and the salty ocean reached her. Towering trees were packed so tightly together in places that it was impassable. A hard dirt road wound its way between the trees. Long grass grew in fields that teamed with pokemon. Hunks of rock towered over Charlotte, obscuring the rest of the route from her view. She could only see a couple people apart from herself, considering how early it was.

She wandered a little further along, mixed emotions surging through her; fear, excitement, sadness, all swirling into to each other to create simple confusion. Fang was just as clueless as his trainer as he had never strayed far from a laboratory environment before. Charlotte gazed skywards for a moment, an idea leaping into her head.

She remembered that there were five things that trainers usually did; catch pokemon, train and bond with them, participate in battles, take part in contests and explore. These principles had been drilled into her head throughout her childhood by both her mother and her schooling.

She was strictly told to take on the Johto League so she guessed she wouldn't be permitted to do contests – which she certainly preferred to do over battling. Just the thought of Fang fainting again made her wince. So she was left with two options, catch a new pokemon or train and bond with Fang.

"Alright," she said cheerily, finally deciding on an option and perking herself up. "We're going to need some more help if we're going to take on a gym so…let's go make some new friends!"

Fang tilted his head in curiosity, clearly not as enthusiastic as his trainer. He was not keen about being around more unfamiliar pokemon and people. But with the promise of having to battle other pokemon, he went along with it.

Charlotte turned to a nearby patch of grass, shuddering upon realising as soon as she walked in there, she could be attacked by hordes of rattata and ekans. A glance at her partner reassured her as she knew he would be able to defend her if need be. She took a deep breath, feeling excited about doing something she was forbidden to do in years previous. Promptly, she dived into the swaying grass, followed by her Totodile.

She crawled on her hands and knees, the grass rising a few inches above her head. She paid no mind to the dirt that was accumulating on her hands and knees. Keeping an eye out for pokemon, she turned over each rock and investigated every rustle of the grass that was not made by her.

She spent the majority of the day simply searching for new pokemon. Many seemed to simply hide from her, or she didn't want that particular pokemon, making her search a little hard. She didn't encounter pokemon that often which was disappointing. But part of her was a little relieved that she wasn't frightened by any sudden attacks.

She stepped up onto a boulder, with a little difficulty, so that she would be able to see a little further. The sun was low in the sky now, indicating just how long her search had lasted. She desperately wished to find a good pokemon before sunset.

Upon scanning her surroundings, she spotted a nearby berry patch. As pokemon loved berries and for many, it was their staple diet, a few pokemon could be seen fighting over the delectable food. Charlotte perked up and hopped off the boulder, dashing towards the berry patch with Totodile in tow. Maybe she could catch these pokemon? If not, she could at least break up their fight.

As she ran she managed to take a minimalized pokeball out of her pokeball, clumsily enlarging it. As she neared the patch, she identified the pokemon as a rattata and an aipom, squabbling over the final few berries on the tree. Aipom were rare as far as she knew as she had only caught glimpses on them on television before. She had always been fond of them, their fluffy purple fur, their cheeky smile and that hand-like tail always made her smile.

She reluctantly burst into the berry patch, both pokemon turning to look at her with apprehension, though Charlotte completely missed this detail. "Fang, use water gun on the aipom," she commanded, pointing at the furry, long tailed pokemon. But before he got the chance, a bolt of lightning erupted from a nearby patch of grass, zapping the purple pokemon. It screamed as it headed for the hills, both in pain and fear. Charlotte could only watch, her mouth fluttering open and closed like a magikarp out of water, as the aipom propelled itself through the trees swiftly with its hand-like tail.

She sighed heavily, disappointment bubbling within her at her failure. She looked down at Fang who didn't seem bothered at all by the loss, simply nibbling on a stick he had picked up. She hadn't expected that catching pokemon would be so difficult.

The rustling in the bushes distracted her from her self-pity, drawing her to a fluffy yellow pokemon emerging from the tall grass ahead of them. Judging from where it came from, it was the pokemon that had electrocuted the aipom and rattata. Charlotte identified it as a mareep, watching carefully as it cautiously approached the remaining berries.

She sniffed at them with her button nose, assuring that the berries were not laced with poison before she delicately began to nibble at one. Fang watched her with confusion. He could see the look in her eyes, the starved look that told him that she hadn't eaten for some time yet she was chowing down with such elegance? The little totodile tilted his head towards his trainer who was busy readying another empty pokeball.

She stared at the fluffy pokemon with a look of adoration. Aipom was cute, sure, but this other pokemon was just as cute – and it was an electric type too which should prove useful. She was about to call an attack when she accidently moved her foot, the hungry mareep glancing in her direction.

The pokemon's creamy fleece began to spark with electricity as it growled at the onlookers. This was her food now so if anyone was going to try and take it, they were going to be zapped into tomorrow. Fang, despite his weakness to electricity, growled and stepped out in from of his trainer who held her arms up in innocence, telling Fang to stay away.

"S-sorry!" she apologised, backing away from the furious pokemon. Fang, however, had other ideas. He took a deep breath and fired his best water gun at the sheep pokemon, prompting it to squeal in shock as it took the full brunt of the attack. Charlotte winced – Fang's attack only seemed to make it angrier. Electricity sparkling in its fleece, Fang pounced on it just as it released a thunder wave, paralysing the totodile instantly.

Charlotte covered her mouth with her hands as she stared in shock. Fang was now dead weight on top of mareep, trapping it beneath it. It brayed angrily, more sparks of electricity flying from it, though there was nothing it could do to get Fang off until he regained control of his body. Charlotte was relieved that she had packed an anti-paralytic potion and managed to calm down somewhat with that knowledge. Shaking, she decided the best way to solve this situation was to catch mareep while it was trapped.

She steadied herself as best she could as she aimed her throw at the nearby pokemon, putting all her courage into it. The pokeball hit its mark, mareep disappearing within the ball. Fang, still paralysed, fell on top of the pokeball, shaking back and forth slightly as mareep continued trying to escape. Alas, its efforts were in vain – the pull of the pokeball combined with Fang's weight was enough to seal it inside with a click.

Standing around in dull astonishment for a few moments, Charlotte came to terms with the fact that she had just caught a pokemon for the first time. With a rush of excitement, she jumped up and down on the spot, thanking Fang for his reckless but useful attacks. She then remembered he was still paralysed and set to work remedying that right away.

Taking pity on her starter pokemon, she returned him to his pokeball for a rest. Straightening her back and gazing at the sky, she noted that the last of the day's light was fading on the horizon, prompting her heart to drop into her stomach. She needed to get somewhere safe before it was dark – the night-time pokemon were often more dangerous than those of the day.

Luckily, she remembered that there was another town not far up ahead that her mother used to take her to sometimes. She should be able to safely stay the night there. Tripping over a little, she broke out into a brisk jog, hoping that she could get there before the light disappeared.

Charlotte made it to the small town of Bloomingvale just before the sun disappeared behind the horizon. By the time she made it to the pokemon centre, she had almost collapsed from exhaustion, her lungs burning with her efforts. She could tell that it was town curfew now – everyone was turning in for the night. At the front desk, Charlotte handed in Fang's pokeball, almost forgetting about her newly acquired mareep. She passed her new pokeball over to the nurse, smiling proudly.

Once she got her pokemon back, freshly healed, she booked out a room and found her way to it, if not a little anxiously. This was her second time staying overnight at a pokemon centre, without the protection of her mother and her legion of powerful pokemon. Again, she took respite in knowing that she now had two of her own pokemon with her for safety.

She unlocked the door of her room with the key card she had been given and dumped her bag on the single bed in the corner of the quaint room. She slumped onto the bed, staring up at the roof with an expansive sigh. She would need to shower and eat before bed but she really wasn't feeling up to doing anything other than laying still.

After a few minutes of staring blankly at the roof, she decided to take mareep out of its pokeball and check it out with her pokedex. This way she could find out more about it and come up with a nickname. She figured she would send out Fang too so they could be properly introduced.

She sat cross-legged on the bed. "Come on out," she giggled as she simultaneously released the pokemon from their pokeballs. Fang clicked at the back of his throat in half-hearted greeting before laying his big blue eyes on the mareep. He narrowed his eyes and raised his claws. Mareep's fur began to cackle again, displeasure written on its features.

"Wait, you are team mates now, stop," Charlotte gushed as she waved her hands to catch their attention. Mareep glared coldly at her but lay its guard down somewhat. Fang did the same, though he simply stared at Charlotte with vague disappointment. Taking the chance to get out her pokedex, Charlotte spent a few moments figuring out how to scan mareep.

Apparently, it was female and had an ARS level of six. She also had the ability 'static' which explains her gifts with the art of paralysis. She knew the moves growl, tackle and thunderwave. The pokemon continued to glare as intensely as she could muster – she was still holding a grudge against her for being contained. Charlotte thought for a few moments, staring intently at the sheep pokemon, wracking her brain for nicknames.

"I'll name you Static," she chirped triumphantly. She wasn't the best at nicknames. The newly dubbed mareep scowled deeper in disgust at the lack lustre name, turning her back to Charlotte in defiance. Fang seemed displeased by this – a name was a name, she should be proud to have one now. Charlotte seemed a little offended. Tension settled in the room.

"Oh dear…," she sighed. "The people on television befriended pokemon so easily…"

The awkward silence was broken by a loud gurgle in Static's stomach, prompting her to blush profusely. Charlotte chuckled uneasily as Fang's stomach gurgled too. "I guess we can make up over food?" The mareep turned slightly to her and nodded slightly, though she had no real intention of forgiving her.

Charlotte and her pokemon reached the cafeteria right in the middle of dinner time. Static ate her large dinner as vainly as she could muster on such an empty stomach. Fang however, dug in like he had never eaten before. Charlotte paid more mind to them than her own food. For whatever reason, she wasn't feeling very hungry.

After eating, Charlotte offered her pokemon a bath as she needed to take one too. Fang leapt at the idea but Static ruffled her wool and trotted off back in the direction of their room. Charlotte then remembered that electric types and water don't mix and nodded in understanding.

Now fed and cleaned, the girl and her pokemon settled down for the night. Static curled up on the other side of the room as far away from Charlotte and Fang as possible. Fang took his place at the end of his trainer's bed. She felt a little upset that her pokemon didn't want to sleep with her but she was too tired to deal with it at the time. Instead, she took out her pokegear from her bag and dialled her dad's number. She hoped he would pick up – she needed to tell him about all this.

She tensed as waited for the line to connect. She puffed a sigh of relief once it did.

"Charlotte!" called a gruff voice from the other end. "How are you? Are things alright? How's your mother?" As always, he asked numerous questions in a gush. Charlotte giggled and rested her head onto the pillow. She was relieved to hear his voice – it had been too long.

"Mum and I are fine," she replied. She could hear the sounds of machinery in the background. She stared at a crack in the roof absentmindedly. She could barely it see it through the dark.

"Oh good," he said, relieved. "Have you started on your journey yet? Janette mentioned something about you getting a starter pokemon this month, last time we spoke." The metallic sounds grew louder for a moment, and static filled the line, until it dropped off suddenly.

"Yeah I've got two pokemon now," she said excitedly. "A totodile and a mareep I caught a couple hours ago." Her tone died down though once she remembered her battle. She didn't really want to tell her father about her failure. She knew he would just wish her good luck for next time but still.

"How're you handling the life of a trainer? I know you wanted to be a ranger but…your mother is just…," he paused for an agonizing moment, "…your mother. If I could send the funds for your ranger education all the way to Johto, I would. I would do anything to get you there."

"I'm doing okay so far," Charlotte said, skipping the details. "It's a little difficult but, yeah. And thanks dad." Her gaze had drifted to Static's gently rising and falling form in the corner. She hadn't anticipated that speaking with her father would be this awkward. It made her a little sad.

"Anything you want to talk about, Charlie?"

"Uh…not really," she muttered. "I'd like to sleep now, actually." She didn't want to stop talking with him, but she simply didn't know what to talk about.

"Oh…well I'll talk to you again soon," he said. "Feel free to tell me anything, you know?"

"Of course dad," she smiled wistfully.

"Goodnight, sweetie," he said just as the mechanical noises began again. He hung up and Charlotte returned the pokegear to her bag.

She rolled onto her back, staring at the white-washed roof. Slowly, she closed her eyes, listening to the quiet breaths of her pokemon. She was unnerved by the fact that her mother wasn't a room away, but at least she had her pokemon with her – pokemon that didn't seem to like her much yet. She drew her blankets up to her chin and forced those thoughts away – she had a full day of exploration and adventure tomorrow to look forward to.

That put a smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep.


	5. Union Cave

**Chapter Five: Union Cave**

The enticing scent of various flowers and spices filled Charlotte's nostrils, the light, early morning breeze tugging at her clothes. Red brick houses with brown slated roofs lined the streets, vibrant flowers planted in windowsill pots. People of all ages walked up and down the streets, some battling, some observing, or playing around in the flower fields. Many pokemon roamed the streets, particularly grass types. The air was crisp and dew still clung to the grass, flowers, and some of the wild pokemon.

Fang was at his trainer's side, excited by the exotic nature of the place, his tail wagging back and forth, eyes shining with intrigue. He had eaten a good number of flowers by that point, pollen sticking irritably to the roof of his mouth.

Charlotte was feeling quite optimistic that morning – eager to start off on her journey again; so eager that she woke up at five o'clock. She knew Bloomingvale pretty well so wandering around town would have little point, but she remember that her mother had told her to stock up on items every time she reached a new town.

The Pokemart wasn't far away. She purchased her supplies, feeling a little embarrassed as she paid for things – she wasn't so good with buying things on her own. She made sure that she had plenty of antidotes and anti-paralytic potions since those were the two most common status affects. She also had a pokemon who was very enthusiastic about her electricity.

A group of people in white caught her eye as she left the mart.

There were three men crouching in a nearby flower patch. They wore long, buttoned up laboratory coats and sturdy goggles. With gloved hands, they took pollen samples from the flowers and placed them in small plastic sleeves. Charlotte began to feel confused as she watched one of them pick up a nearby sunflora.

It cried out in surprise and struggled in the man's grip but soon fell still once a syringe was jabbed into its leafy arm. Fang issued a click of surprise as the man in white scraped some of sunflora's pollen right off its face, before capturing it and throwing the pokeball into a small sack. Judging from the shape of the bag, there were numerous other pokeballs in there.

"What…are they doing?" Charlotte asked no one in particular. Fang tensed up, wondering if he should attack the men or not. A nearby woman seemed to hear her, sauntering up to her side.

"They are scientists," she said. "Don't worry; they didn't hurt the sunflora they are just taking it in for examination. They are released back into the wild afterwards," she soothed, trying to comfort the clearly concerned girl.

"Oh...," she sighed belatedly, putting on a smile. Charlotte was glad that they weren't hurting any pokemon, but she was confused as to why they were collecting all that pollen. "But why are they collecting pollen from both flowers and pokemon?"

The woman had a hard look on her face. "I'm not sure. They recently constructed a laboratory towards the edge of town. I'm assuming that they are studying something to do with the biological make up of plant pokemon and actual plants but no one knows for sure."

"Maybe they are working with the professor to gather information?" thought Charlotte out loud, gazing expectantly at the lady. She shrugged and grinned.

"Perhaps. Anyway it's none of your concern," she informed her. "Run along now." The woman's eyes glinted with something unrecognisable to Charlotte – casting a cold glance towards the men in white as the girl slipped away down the street. Fang watched the flower patch for a few moments before scurrying reluctantly after his trainer.

The scientists from earlier were cleared from her memory by the time she set back out on route 32. As she had never strayed beyond the route before, she had to use the map on her pokegear to navigate. On the way, she tried her hardest to avoid trainer battles, but in the end, she did fight a couple of young picnickers with some rattatas that were thankfully weak enough for Fang to beat. She also ran into some wild pokemon that were fairly easy to deal with. She felt bad for hurting innocent pokemon but, since they attacked her first, she didn't have much choice.

By seven o'clock, Charlotte reached the pokemon centre at the end of the route. Charlotte took a short break to heal her pokemon and have lunch with them. Static was just as moody as she was the day previous, though she didn't try to attack Fang or Charlotte this time. She just ate her food in silence, glaring at passer-by's. While there, Charlotte checked Fang's ARS level, discovering that he had reached level 8. She grinned in pride, congratulating her partner on his effort. He seemed rather embarrassed by the attention but puffed out his chest and beamed anyway.

They then travelled to the mouth of Union Cave. Charlotte stood at the end of the path, gazing into the imminent darkness. She had never been inside the cave before and she had never really wanted to – she had heard stories on the news of people getting their blood sucked by zubats and crobats. She knew that her mareep's attacks would be good against them, but there were rock and ground types too.

So she decided to keep both her pokemon out of their pokeballs, hoping that they would not stray far from her in the dark cave. She took out her torch and flicked it on, taking a deep breath. Fear settled in deep, prompting her to shudder a little. She didn't know how her mother dealt with all this fear of darkness and unknown when she was her age.

"L-let's go, Fang, Static," she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut for a few moments as she forced herself to enter the cave. Shaking all over, the strong yellow light of her torch darted all over the place. She wanted to hold one of her pokemon just to comfort her a little, but both her hands were clasped around the torch.

She could hear the gurgle of water, and the distant jolly chatter of miners and hikers. Unidentified pokemon scurried in the dark, emitting curious sounds. The zubat and crobat squeaked and shuffled in their clumps on the ceiling. Charlotte's legs turned to jelly as she shone her torch upon them – there was no way she could fight all of them if they were to attack. So she chose to stay as quiet as she possibly could.

Fang clung close to her legs, teeth gritted – he was prepared to fight if need be. The musty smell of the walls and the damp ground beneath his feet excited him, as did the unfamiliar surroundings. His crocodilian eyes were quick to adjust to the dark, allowing him to keep a close watch of the pokemon that lurked in the dark that his trainer was unaware of.

Static, however, was much less enthusiastic. If she could return to her pokeball herself, she would. The dampness reduced her electrical conductivity and the dirt clung to her wool. She loathed being dirty. She trotted around puddles and bat guano as carefully as she could, scowling at her trainer's back. How could she stand this?

Charlotte zipped up her jacket, shuddering in the cold. Not wishing to get lost, she held her torch in one trembling hand as she took out her pokegear. Once she affirmed that she was going the right way, she set off again, only to suddenly trip, falling flat on her face. Her items flew from her hands, skidding along the hard ground. Fang croaked in alarm.

"Oh! Gosh, sorry," gushed a nervous voice. "I'll help you up."

The young trainer, confused and shaken, recognised the hand held out before her and grasped it. With a jerk, she was brought to her feet. Dusting herself off, she smiled wanly at whoever had helped her up. The person seemed to have picked up her torch and pokegear too, giving them to her undamaged. "T-thank you," Charlotte said.

"It's really no problem, I was the one you tripped over, whoops," the person giggled. Judging from the tone of her voice, Charlotte assumed they were female. She shone the torch at the woman, now able to take in her appearance.

The first thing the young trainer noticed was the glow of her aqua-blue eyes behind her spectacles, her gaze gleaming with cheer. Her frizzy strawberry blond locks hung to her mid-back. Her voice was soft and smooth compared to Charlotte's stammering, meek one. She wore some sort of uniform coloured red and black with yellow highlights. A yellow bandana wrapped around her forehead, bearing a foreign symbol. Charlotte gasped once she noticed the device clasped to the woman's wrist – a capture styler.

"Y-you're a ranger!" she beamed, her hands balling into fists in excitement.

"Uh, huh," the woman confirmed with a nod, "My name is Olivia Speckler, nice to meet you…um?" She waited expectantly for the young trainer to introduce herself.

"Oh! My name is C-Charlotte Evergreen," she stuttered. "These are my pokemon, Fang and Static," she added, gesturing to the pokemon at her feet. She was feeling incredibly shy and awkward around someone such as her – a ranger, people who were heroes and heroines in her eyes. Standing right before her was everything Charlotte wanted to be.

"And this is my partner pokemon, Sandy," she grinned, tapping the sandshrew beside her with her foot. "Don't wander off like that," she then whispered just loudly enough to be heard. Smiling down at the mousy creature, Charlotte bent down and stroked its gritty forehead. Fang and Static kept their distance, the both of them training their cautious gazes on the sandshrew. "Oh! She seems to like you," Olivia chirped.

Charlotte straightened up and wondered if the conversation had ended – she wanted to hear about Olivia's life as a ranger. She decided to ask about it when a sudden rumble gurgled throughout the cave, shaking the ground and walls. The hordes of bat pokemon were startled, taking to the air and fluttering above the girls' heads. Charlotte screamed, struggling to keep her ground and fend off the bats.

With a spark of yellow, Static took matters into her own hands and chose to shock every pokemon in the nearest vicinity, including Fang and Sandy. Paralysed, the bats dropped to the still shuddering ground. Fang too, was paralysed whereas Sandy was unaffected due to her typing. Charlotte saw to fixing Fang as the cave became still again.

"Thank you, Static," said Olivia with a relieved sigh. "Geez, that was the biggest quake yet!"

"What was that?" asked Charlotte. Fang seemed awfully bothered by the whole ordeal, especially Static's attack, narrowing his eyes at the fluffy pokemon. Static merely smirked in pride.

"That was why I need your help," began the ranger with a meek smile. "You see, I have no electric pokemon befriended and it appears that you are the only trainer here with a pokemon who knows a paralysing move." Mareep perked up at the mention of her, trotting closer to the girls in interest. Charlotte tilted her head to the side expectantly.

"There is a lapras that lives deep within these caves. Normally, it acts as a sort of guardian of the place but lately it's been out of whack and causing havoc. My mission is to investigate the situation and stop lapras," Olivia explained with a grave expression on her fine features. "Basically, I need an electric type pokemon to paralyse lapras so I can capture it and take it back to the pokemon centre for analysis." Charlotte listened carefully, nodding and silently wishing that she could be tasked with cool missions like that one day.

"M-me and Static can help for sure," she assured. "I caught her yesterday and it seems like s-she's really good at paralysing so I'm sure that she can h-help." Olivia seemed relieved more than anything.

"Great, thank you," she said earnestly. "Stay close to me, I know the way." That was close – if that young trainer hadn't agreed to help her she wouldn't have been able to complete her mission. That would lead to a lengthy lecture from her boss and possibly a demotion - if he was in a bad mood. Not only that but this place could collapse if lapras continued its violence.

Hurriedly, the girls and their pokemon set off, led by Olivia. They both had torches – illuminating the path before them along with any hostile pokemon. Fang managed to fend off any attacking geodudes and stray zubat with relative ease. As they went on, the earthquakes became more intense, causing debris to tumble from the walls of the cave. They both narrowly dodged falling rocks.

Olivia began to worry about Charlotte – she didn't look a day over ten and she was using her on this dangerous mission? She looked terrified! She scolded herself for her foolishness but they couldn't go back now. She asked her to return her pokemon to her pokeballs as to assure they didn't get hurt.

Soon enough, they emerged from the tunnels in a connecting cave. In the centre was a large lake that smelt of ocean salt. Chunks of ice floated about the lake; being broken up into smaller pieces as a frenzied lapras darted about, occasionally letting off a blast of ice shard or water pulse. It screeched and screamed painfully. Olivia and Charlotte clung close to the walls, where its attacks didn't reach.

They noticed there was a group of men and women in white standing on the land on the other side of the small lake. They appeared to be affiliated with the same scientists back in Bloomingvale – donning the exact same laboratory coats and goggles. They bustled about, working with some strange machinery that was difficult to make out from the opposite side of the cavern. Their movements were desperate and panicked.

"Hey!" called Olivia loud enough that she was heard over the crash of the waves. "Calm down, my friend and I are going to stop lapras!" The scientists stopped what they were doing and turned to her. Their faces were difficult to see from the distance but they seemed relieved. Charlotte, feeling nervous, felt a shudder run down her spine. What if she couldn't stop it? What if Static was hurt? That could end in calamity. Charlotte knew that the lapras was in pain and she wanted nothing more than to make it feel better. Olivia, seeing her hesitance, placed her hands on her shoulders. "This is your pokemon's work. Your only job is to call the attack and make plans. Relax, and have faith in your mareep." Her words calmed the young girl down somewhat as she shakily reached for Static's pokeball and sent her out.

As soon as she was free, Static had to dodge a falling boulder with a frightened bleat. She flicked her gaze towards the lapras, fleece sparking already. "Static, I need you to jump on lapras's back when it gets close enough, so that you can paralyse it with your thunder wave," she told her. The mareep looked flabbergasted – she glanced rapidly between the icy water, the lapras, and Charlotte's nervous face. She shook her head.

"Please, Static," begged Charlotte in a panic. "You'll get a warm bath and some good food after this I promise! I'll even make sure your fleece is all brushed and soft." Static shifted awkwardly on her hooves as she considered the deal. If she was to fall in the water, at least all the dirt and grime would be washed off and she would do nearly anything for a bit of extra food. Reluctantly, she nodded. Charlotte's eyes lit up as she grinned - pleased that her pokemon was willing to work with her.

"Great, I'll tell you when lapras is close enough for Static to jump," said Olivia, brow furrowed in determination. She had her hand on a rope at her waist that she would need to lasso the beast to shore once it had been paralysed and befriend it with her capture styler.

There were a few moments of silent waiting as the lapras thrashed about the lake, debris still raining from the ceiling and the ground still shaking as it released blast after blast of water and ice attacks. Sandy the sandshrew had been cautiously inching back towards the tunnels and was now a fair distance away. The lapras circled closer and closer to the bank where the girls were when suddenly it was right up against the edge, about to release an attack of ice shard.

"Go now!" yelled Olivia hurriedly.

"Quick, use thunder wave!" Charlotte screeched as the mareep leapt onto the lapras's back, releasing a powerful shock of electricity. Lines of crackling yellow stung the lapras's scaly blue skin, causing it to thrash about even more than before, throwing Static off its back with a sharp cry from her.

"Static!" the young trainer called desperately as Static's head bobbed up and down in the water as she flailed its legs to keep herself afloat. She bleated fearfully. The lapras's movements were beginning to slow as the paralysis set in. Charlotte took this time to send her totodile out of his pokeball so that he could bring Static back to land. Meanwhile, Olivia readied her lasso, whirling it in the air a few times before she looped it around the lapras's neck and laboriously tugged it to shore.

Once all was done, Charlotte and Olivia rejoiced in relief. "Well done to everyone!" sang the ranger. Charlotte grinned shyly at the compliments as she returned her pokemon to her pokeballs. She felt sorry for poor Static – she was soaked and freezing to the bone.

"I'm just happy lapras is going to be okay now," Charlotte commented. She noticed that there were bruises and wounds all over the creature's body, most likely from its thrashing. Olivia's face fell almost immediately as she readied and empty pokeball.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she sighed, pressing the button of the ball against lapras's forehead. The beast disappeared in a flicker of red light. Charlotte was confused by this – she had thought that rangers never caught pokemon, only befriended them through the use of their styler.

"In case you're wondering," said Olivia knowingly, "rangers do have to catch pokemon sometimes. There are lots of different circumstances but in this case, this lapras will not be able to travel back to base as it is therefore the easiest way for me to transport it, is in a pokeball. Once it is fully analysed back at base, it will be released into the wild." Charlotte clung onto each word, taking mental notes. In television show that she was familiar with, she never once saw a ranger catch a pokemon. She was deeply intrigued by this.

Remembering the scientists on the other side of the lake, Olivia was about to call to them when she realised that they had disappeared. Confusion crossed her face as she stared at the wall, as if expected them to materialize again. Charlotte also noticed their absence.

"Maybe they escaped during the battle?" Charlotte suggested, looking up at Olivia. She bit her lip.

"I'm not sure," she said, forcing a smile on her face. "But it doesn't matter, let's just get to Azalea Town and get this lapras healed before its injuries get worse."

After running through the pelting rain with a squealing sandshrew on their heels, the ranger and trainer made it to the scenic town of Azalea. The small town was surrounded by a thick forest that undoubtedly crawled with bug and bird type pokemon. The only way the town could be accessed was through either Union Cave or Ilex Forest – both were easy to get lost in. A number of slowpoke wandered around town, none of them quite sure what they were doing. A well lay on the edge of town, which was the origin of the town's slowpoke population. The town was quiet and generally uneventful.

Charlotte and Olivia were awaiting the return of lapras from the operating room. Apparently, the creature had been in a bad place when they brought it to the nurse. Olivia was deeply concerned by the grave look on the nurse's face, and hadn't said a word since the pokemon was taken in. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong here. Charlotte, however, seemed oblivious to this – she was just hoping the lapras was going to be okay. She had also taken her own pokemon to be healed.

Just as the nurse called out to them to give them the news, a strangely dressed man strode through the electronic doors of the pokemon centre. Charlotte's gaze turned to him as she followed Olivia to the counter.

He wore a denim tattered jacket that dragged along the floor as he walked. His black boots clicked against the tiles, echoing. He wore a white pair of pants with a red belt, along with a white dress shirt. His black hair was neatly combed back and fixed in place with product, shining blue in the light. His eyes were hidden by aviator shades, a frown tugging at his lips.

Charlotte didn't know what to make of him – something simply seemed off about him. Sandy clung closer to Olivia's legs. Charlotte shuddered involuntarily and tore her gaze away from him and towards the nurse at the counter instead, who was handing back her pokemon. As the man strode to her side, she noted that he smelt of pungent cologne and sea salt. He spread his palms on the counter.

"That lapras, I would like to take it," he said smoothly, his deep voice overpowering Olivia's as she began to speak.

"Excuse me?" scowled Olivia, genuinely upset. "I caught this pokemon and it is my duty to care for it. You can't just walk in here and ask for it." His gaze directed to the ranger, the light shifting on his shades so that his burgundy eyes could be seen. She didn't like the looks of this guy at all. She tapped her sandshrew with her foot, indicating that if he tried anything, she was to attack him.

"You are a ranger," he said with a smirk. "You would have released this pokemon anyway. I've had my eyes on it for quite some time." Olivia said nothing, her crystalline eyes boring into his burgundy ones. She couldn't track a hint of malice in those eyes, despite the aura he gave off, only mock. Charlotte stayed quiet as well – she felt as though she was too young to have a place in this argument.

The nurse broke the silence. "Lapras is healed as best we could manage. Amongst the injuries sustained from its rampage, it appears to have some sort of odd bacterial infection. This infection seemed to be painful enough for it to go crazy. We are not sure what it is, but we've managed to clear up most of it and have given it an antibiotic to deal with the remainder of the infection," she explained with mixed emotions in her eyes. "It shouldn't be allowed to battle for some time."

"I wasn't planning to," replied Olivia softly, eyes still on the man, as she was handed lapras's pokeball. A scowl crawled onto his face as his stare drifted to the pokeball in her hand. The ranger could tell that he badly wanted that lapras. She minimised the pokeball and slipped it into the pocket of her black and yellow shorts.

The man clicked his tongue, standing up straighter. He was significantly taller than her, which meant he towered over Charlotte. He leaned closer to the ranger's face, making her more uncomfortable. His breath was cool and smelt of mint. "As a ranger you have a legal requirement to serve the people and pokemon of this world. You have captured that pokemon, but by the regulations enforced by your particular base, you cannot keep it. I am a certified trainer who specialises in water types. Lapras will be safe in my custody."

"How about you battle for it," suggested the nurse. She could tell that there was a lot of tension between them and she really didn't want a fight starting in the middle of the centre.

"No," they replied simultaneously. Olivia knew she would be at a severe disadvantage with a ground type pokemon and Charlotte was too much of an amateur to do much anyway. She was also shaking in her sneakers and was too busy trying to calm herself by fiddling with the hems of her shorts.

"Here, take the lapras," said Olivia through gritted teeth, taking the pokeball out of her pocket and shoving it into his chest. "You're right. I'm being kind of silly. Just…treat it right."

"Will do, madam," he grinned. Though it was not a happy grin, it was more of a mocking one. With that, he turned on his heels, jacket billowing behind him as he left the pokemon centre without another word. Olivia didn't take her eyes off him until he was out of sight. She visibly relaxed once he was gone, letting go of a heavy sigh.

"Are you okay?" asked Charlotte, who was also relieved he was gone. She had no clue how to act in that situation – all she could do was shake and she berated herself for that.

"Yeah I was just getting a little protective of poor lapras," she smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. Charlotte smiled and understood, feeling much more at ease.

Olivia and Charlotte parted ways after that. The ranger told the trainer that if she was to take on the Azalea gym, she should probably do some training in Ilex forest first. She also mentioned off-handily that she had some additional business to take care of and that something just didn't feel right.

"I'll probably be seeing you though," the ranger grinned as she waved Charlotte goodbye, heading off in the direction of Ilex forest at a brisk pace, Sandy at her heels.

The young trainer stood about for a few moments, before realising that now would be a good time to start training – it was just after midday, meaning that she had until sundown to train. She headed to the store and bought a few extra antidotes, knowing that she would be about to battle a lot of bug and poison types. She was deeply concerned about fighting that many wild pokemon – she could really hurt them. Her own pokemon could get badly injured too. She decided that she would cling close to the entrance to the forest, just in case.

As she walked there, she tried to remember how to go about training. At school she was told to simply battle wild pokemon until they fled or fainted and that would boost her pokemon's ARS level. She could also battle her pokemon against each other, or practice specific attacks on rocks or trees. Her mother and Gold had also given her some pointers.

Once she had entered the gate between the town and forest, she began to worry about other issues. She doubted she would be able to get her pokemon to the level where they can fight the gym leader – Gold and Silver were capable of training much harder than she was. Then again, she had never trained before; she just thought she wouldn't be particularly good at it.

Sighing shakily, she stepped into the forest, swathed in semi-darkness once more. At least here, there was light sifting down through the leaves of trees, allowing Charlotte to see where she was going. The forest was quiet – the only sounds were the rustling of bushes and trees, and the occasional cry of a pokemon. The air was cool and the ground was mushy with leaves and moist soil. The air smelt of mildew and greenery. Charlotte slipped off her shoes, stuffing them in her backpack so that she could feel the ground beneath her toes.

She chose to train Static first, as her ARS level was lower than Fang's. In a flash of red, the mareep materialized at her feet, her permanently disgruntled expression deepening. She was still dirty and damp from the events at the cave. She sunk her hooves into the decaying leaf matter, grimacing at the sliminess. She didn't know how her trainer could go without shoes in here. Her fleece sparked as she met Charlotte's gaze.

"I won't break my promise," she said quickly. "Trust me. We're just doing a little training so that we can beat the gym, that's all."

Static was not okay with this but she supposed she didn't have much choice. She bleated in frustration as Charlotte gazed about her, searching for something or someone to fight. She didn't want to, of course, but this was what she had to do now.

A loud rustle in the bushes behind her alerted her to the presence of another trainer. The boy appeared to be the same age as her, and experience too, judging by the rattata at his feet. Charlotte, feeling nervous already, took this opportunity to call out to him for a battle.

Moments later, the boy's ratatta was defeated. Feeling bad for the boy and his only pokemon, Charlotte handed him one of her potions, apologising shyly for hurting the ratatta. Nevertheless, Static gained experience from the fight. She could tell that the mareep wasn't into following her orders, which made the following fights more awkward. Sometimes, Static would completely ignore her and use a different move, which frustrated her to no end.

She spent the rest of the afternoon laboriously training, tiring both herself and her pokemon out. She didn't realise that training would be such hard work – how Gold did this, she had no idea. She kind of wished she never had to do that again but she knew that she would have to if she was going to beat all the other gyms. And in the end, it was her pokemon battling not her.

Faced with the steady darkening of the forest, Charlotte returned to the Azalea Town pokemon centre, nerves tingling as she remembered that she had to challenge the gym tomorrow. She tried to get her mind off things by giving Static a much deserved bath and food like she had promised. She had to clean her with rubber gloves, as to assure she didn't shock her (which she tried to do).

That night she called her dad and had another awkward conversation.

"So…has your mother…," he began slowly. "Has she started dating again?"

Charlotte hung up as soon as the words left his mouth, burying her face in the pillow. She didn't want to think about that, or about the imminent battle tomorrow – she felt sick to the stomach.

She didn't get much sleep that night.


	6. Azalea Gym

**Chapter Six: Azalea Gym**

[ **Update** : continuity issues fixed]

The gym reminded Charlotte of the forest she trained in a day prior. Grabbing handfuls of her jacket, she looked around quietly, taking in the surroundings of the gym. Spider webs hung from the ceiling, crawling with spinarak. Caterpie, weedle and their evolutions hung about in the trees that sprawled all over the gym's floor. Charlotte almost tripped over a number of roots. Sections of the floor seemed to have caved in, covered with cobwebs made of rope. Small carts traversed these ropes via a pulley system.

The gym assistants were busy battling other trainers to test their ability. Charlotte hovered around the door, waves of anxiety flowing through her body. The gym's greeter noticed her and issued her a wave, striding over to her.

"You look nervous," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. All of her muscles had tensed up and her skin had broken out in a sweat. She had Static's pokeball clasped in her hands, turning it over and over. She was terrified – she knew just how strong gym leaders were. She knew one, Falkner. Her mother once told her that during a Team Rocket raid on Violet City a couple years ago, he was able to almost single-handedly fend them off – how was Charlotte supposed to compete with that?

She didn't even realise the greeter was there until he spoke again. "This is your first gym battle isn't it?" Charlotte glanced up at him, surprised. She nodded slowly. She opened her dry mouth to speak but found no words to say. He smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry; Bugsy won't go all out on new trainers. Get some practice by battling the gym attendants." Charlotte nodded a few times, taking deep, shaky breaths. He handed her a bottle of water, which she eagerly drank.

"You'll have to traverse the gym using those spider carts," he explained as he gently pushed Charlotte towards the first false spider web covered pit.

"O-okay," she muttered as the greeter returned to his position beside the door. She clicked the button on the pokeball in her hands, sending out her mareep. She had a fairly neutral expression – she wasn't looking forward to this but she didn't hate battling, so long as she didn't get too dirty. During their training the previous afternoon, she managed to boost her ARS level to ten, which she hoped would be enough. Stepping onto the platform, she peered cautiously over the edge.

The pit below was filled with soft leaves that would break her fall if she was to tumble from the platform. This comforted her as she tugged on the rope, pulling herself towards the opposite side of the hole, where a gym assistant was waiting to battle her. Cringing, she stepped before him, Static taking her stance.

Charlotte and Static managed, with some difficulty, to take down two of the gym assistants. Items were not allowed to be used in battle; therefore her pokemon had taken a significant amount of damage from poisoning. Charlotte was terrified that her pokemon would faint or worse if she didn't give them an antidote, but the assistants assured her that their pokemon were using non-lethal amounts of poison.

Currently, Static was facing off against a beedrill. Luckily, her electric attacks were doing a significant amount of damage. However, the bug type was much faster than she was, always managing to get in a move or two before Static counter-attacked. Eventually, the speed got to her and she was nearly taken out by a strategic barrage of fury attack. She switched in Fang, managing to finish it off in the end.

She found herself apologised profusely as the electric pokemon glared at her through half-lidded eyes. After healing her up as best she could with potions, she returned her to her pokeball and tucked it safely away in her belt. At that point she wished she had caught more pokemon – she only had Fang left. His ARS level was higher than Static's though, twelve, so hopefully he could take on the gym leader on his own.

Charlotte honestly believed she had never been more nervous in her life as she stepped up to the field. There was an arena set up, with Bugsy waiting patiently at the opposite end. Another trainer stood beside him, cheerily receiving the hive badge. Charlotte felt like she was going to collapse as the gym leader motioned to her.

"Wow, you challengers are really tiring me out today," he commented.

Charlotte nervously studied his appearance as she sent her totodile out for battle. Bugsy was young – probably around the age of fifteen. His chunky purple hair brushed his jaw and his wide eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. He was wearing a scout uniform that Charlotte was not familiar with. He seemed to be physically tired, breathing heavily which didn't make sense to her as he had only been calling attacks.

Fang got down on all fours, haunches raised, lips twisted in a toothy grin. He was almost shuddering with anticipation for the upcoming battle. He hadn't had the chance to fight today and was suffering from boredom. However, he knew his trainer wasn't into this at all, which made her commands awkward and poorly planned.

"How many badges do you have?" asked Bugsy as he got to selecting which pokemon to use.

"None," replied Charlotte swiftly. The leader nodded decisively as he chose two specific pokeballs from a shelf behind him. With a flash, the screen fixed to the wall came on, displaying a picture of a totodile, along with a health bar. Charlotte pondered how they managed to keep track of Fang's health as Bugsy sent out his first pokemon.

Charlotte recognised it as a ledyba. The bug pokemon fluttered its wings as it came out of its pokeball, before withdrawing them back under their red and black casing. Its fist-like hands had a firm grip on the field, its face set in determination. Pulling her pokedex out of her pocket, a quick scan indicated that it was ARS 10, much to her relief.

"Alright then, let me show you the true power of bug type pokemon!" called Bugsy. "Challengers take the first move," he added once he noticed how paralysed Charlotte seemed. She remained frozen for a few moments before she issued Fang's first order.

"Fang, let's start this b-battle with rage," she stuttered just loud enough for Fang to hear her. The totodile kicked off just before she finished her sentence, body glowing red with rage, eyes burning with excitement for the fight. She learnt from her training that if Fang were to be attacked throughout the battle, his rage would grow and do more damage the next time he used the attack.

"Good plan," complemented Bugsy. "Ledyba counter with comet punch."

As Fang rammed into the bug pokemon, it struck back with a barrage of comet punch, all six of his limbs striking out at Fang. Charlotte was yelling at him to dodge frantically, managing only in distracting her pokemon and allowing him to get hit more.

With an annoyed click, Fang skidded backwards. That bug sure punched hard – he could feel bruises forming under his scales. Nevertheless, the physical attack only made his rage grow. He stood up on his hind legs, waiting for his trainer's next command. Ledyba hovered just above the field, darting to and fro. Charlotte hesitated for a few moments, trying to think of what to do next. Bugsy took that moment to attack again, seeing how slow Charlotte was.

"Let's get this battle moving with supersonic," commanded Bugsy.

Ledyba responded immediately, darting towards Fang. It opened its mouth a let loose a string of high-pitched sound waves. Before the waves hit him, Charlotte yelled, "Quick, do something!" She couldn't believe that she was this awkward about this battle after all the training she did. She was shaking so much she thought she would collapse.

"Come on, focus!" yelled Bugsy at her as the sound waves hit Fang before he could react. He clasped his hand over his ears, gritting his teeth together – but it was too late. The world before him began to spin and blur, causing him to stumble as he tried unsuccessfully to gain his bearings. Voices swam in and out of his head – he recognised them as Charlotte's desperate pleas for him to regain his composure.

"Oh, Arceus," muttered Charlotte in a gush. "Fang, uh, just…" An idea came to her like a strike of lightning. "Water gun! Just stumble around and keep using it." That way, he should hopefully be able to get at least a single blast. It took a while for Fang to process what she said. By then, ledyba had already prepared another bought of comet punch.

"Dodge it ledyba," Bugsy said as Fang started firing water gun at random, while stumbling around trying to actually locate his target through the haze. Ledyba darted around Fang, striking out at him and making his confusion worse. Ledyba dodged the beams of water at first, but as Fang increased the pace, it got hit a few times, breaking its attack. The bug pokemon flitted back to its trainer, looking somewhat fatigued.

Finally, Fang snapped out of his confusion, his blue eyes gazing all about him as he gained his bearings. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he narrowed his eyes at ledyba, issuing a curt growl. Charlotte's head throbbed as she tried to quickly come up with a strategy.

"This final move should do it, use tackle to get close to totodile again!" said Bugsy. He looked like this was no trouble for him at all. Charlotte knew that it probably wasn't – he would have faced trainers much more advanced than her.

"Fang, counter with scratch," she called swiftly. Fang didn't need to be told twice, getting his claws at the ready. He knew that his trainer wouldn't elaborate on his command, despite it obviously not being enough to finish the fight. Therefore, he took matters into his own hands – literally.

He waited tensely as ledyba sped towards him. He had never done this before, but he was determined he could pull this off. Just as ledyba was about to hit, he put his hands up, grasping the bug's head. It let off an alarmed sound as Fang skidded backwards with the force of the attack, struggling to keep his grip. Bugsy bit his lip as Charlotte dropped her mouth open in shock.

"Comet punch," recovered the gym leader. Charlotte swiftly took this opportunity to get another attack in. "Close range water gun!" she yelled.

Simultaneously, the attacks hit. However, Fang managed to get his water gun in just before he was punched in the jaw. Ledyba was shot backwards and into the wall, knocking it out cold. Fang fell over backwards, though he remained conscious. His jaw was slightly askew, prompting him to wince as he massaged it with his hand. It was obviously dislocated and would make it difficult for him to produce a good blast of water gun. Grimacing at the injury, Charlotte panicked, unable to bear the thought of letting him fight on like that.

Fumbling at her belt, she placed a hand on her mareep's pokeball. She was almost at full health, due to the potions, and was about as strong as Fang: she was her best bet. She quickly returned the water type to his pokeball. Simultaneously, Static appeared at her feet in a burst of light. Fang watched on concernedly through the clear dome of his ball, claws pressed to the plastic.

"A good move," complimented Bugsy. "That injury could have gotten much worse."

Static was thoroughly displeased at her sudden participation in battle, but she was confident in her skills and was positive she would be able to finish this leader off with ease. Her head still swam with ghost pain from her prior battle though, making her more weary than anticipated. One glance towards the quivering Charlotte evoked annoyance within her – how dare this puny trainer catch her? She had begun to consider simply refusing to fight, until her opponent materialized across the battlefield.

The scyther was a full metre and a half taller than her, arms as sharp as knives. Its filmy wings shuddered on its back as it set its feet apart, compound eyes gleaming with excited blood lust. The green chitin plates armouring its body shone in the gym's warm lights. Static took a few steps backwards, clenching her teeth together. She would have to fight; else she could lose her life to that thing but she didn't trust her trainer to make the right decisions.

She would have to take this fight into her own hooves.

Charlotte's mouth opened and closed as she fiddled with her pokedex, finding that the scyther was level 12, which was a level higher than Static, who had reached level 11 during the prior battles. However, it was half flying type, which made Static's electricity super effective. She switched to mareep's moves, struggling to come up with a proper battle plan through all the anxiety and fear pounding through her. Static rolled her eyes at her hesitancy, kicking at the dirt with her hooves as her wool crackled.

Bugsy moved first, since it was clear that Charlotte was still at a loss for what to do, telling his pokemon to start with focus energy. If he was honest, Bugsy actually felt sorry for Charlotte – the girl was not nearly ready to participate in gym battles. He wondered if she had even battled before, given her lack of confidence.

Charlotte, relieved that the scyther wasn't attacking that turn, decided to start with thunder wave as to slow the speedy bug type down. Whilst scyther focused on building its energy, Static let loose a short, weak burst of electricity that struck her opponent directly. Sparks coursed all over its body, though it barely seemed to acknowledge was had happened as it broke its concentration, ready to attack.

"Use vacuum wave!" Bugsy called. Before Charlotte could tell her pokemon to counter, a blast of wind, generated by a swift movement of scyther's wings, flung mareep into the air. With a startled squeal, she collided with the dirt just a metre from where she was previously standing. Furious, she quickly got to her feet, trembling in the aftermath of the attack, knowing full well that it had done more damage than normal.

Charlotte wondered why the effects of paralysis hadn't kicked in yet – she knew the move landed. Biting her lip she called out, "Static use thunder shock." The wool pokemon shook her head obstinately, confusing her trainer. Static had a feeling that Bugsy would make his scyther use a physical move next, since it wasn't great at using special moves like vacuum wave.

"Static, what are you doing?" gushed Charlotte, shaking as she tried to urge her pokemon to obey her. The mareep simply shook her head again, body stiffening as she prepared herself. She raised her tail, the red orb on its end gleaming in the light.

"Girl get a hold of your pokemon!" shouted Bugsy, earnestly concerned for her. "Scyther let's get this moving with quick attack!" As soon as he spoke his command, Static began to swing her tail downwards with all her might. Simultaneously, lightning fast, scyther's chitin clicked as it sprung forward. Within seconds, a loud clang echoed throughout the gym as the orb on Static's tail slammed onto scyther's forehead. The pokemon growled in pain, reeling backwards.

Both Bugsy and Charlotte were shocked by Static's actions – neither of them had seen a mareep use its tail like that before. Charlotte's eyes were wide as she was hit with inspiration – clearly her freshly caught pokemon new how to battle better than she did. "Wow," commented Bugsy, impressed. "That pokemon must have seen some interesting fights to have learnt to do that."

"M-maybe," replied Charlotte, sending the sheep a relieved smile. Static smirked in pride.

"But it's going to take both pokemon and trainer to win this battle!" Bugsy pointed out. "Use leer to lower mareep's guard!"

"Um, use growl to reduce its attack," said Charlotte, figuring that she may as well try to make it easier for her pokemon to last out on the field. Scyther's eyes began to glow red as it glared maliciously at Static, making her uncomfortable. Since the bug type was busy with its leering, Static chose to disobey her trainer once more.

Electricity danced in rings around her striped horns as she unleashed a bolt towards scyther. Caught off guard by her sudden actions, it broke its leer too late, being hit square in the chest by the attack. Muscles straining, Static forced herself to keep the attack going, focusing a continuous beam of electricity on scyther. It skidded backwards due to the force, enraged. It movements seemed to slow.

Unable to sustain her attack for too long, Static soon broke the charge, stumbling backwards. She panted heavily, backing away towards her trainer. "It's tired! Use this opportunity to attack with pursuit!" Unable to defend herself, Static braced herself as scyther charged towards her, pummelling into her with a full body attack. Rapidly, over and over again, it hit her from various angles.

"Static!" panicked Charlotte, her hands tangled in her hair. She watched the seen with watering eyes, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She blinked them away, refusing to cry in front of a gym leader. "Please hold up Static! Please," she begged weakly. She didn't want to let her get so close to fainting twice in one day.

That was exactly what Static planned to do. She fell to the ground, letting her thick fur take the brunt of all the attacks. She knew she would be left with bruises all over her blue skin after this attack and would barely have the strength to make a comeback, but if her personal plan worked, she should be able to finish this battle in a single hit.

Soon enough, Charlotte began to notice scyther's attacks becoming slower and slower as the effects of her ability began to kick in. Combined with the lingering effects of her thunder wave at the very beginning of the battle, and the damage done by her previous attack, scyther was slowed to a standstill. Its face was screwed up in pain as all its muscles locked up, nerves shot and unable to function like normal.

Charlotte's face lit up in utter relief as she clasped a hand over her mouth, wiping sweat from her brow. "Okay, okay," she muttered. "Static are you okay?" Shakily, she got to her feet, staggering a few paces to the side. Once she had regained her composure, she nodded.

"Come on scyther! Break out of it buddy," encouraged Bugsy.

"Static I need you to do that thing you did earlier, with your tail. But I want you to charge it with electricity," explained Charlotte as she wrung her clammy hands. Smiling determinedly, Static nodded – she had been planning to do that anyway.

Trotting forwards slowly and deliberately towards the defenceless scyther, she thought of her father and how desperately he had defended her against a scyther in the past. He had ended up being caught, leaving her alone to fend for herself. Electricity crackled around her red orb as she sprung up into the air, picturing her father's woolly features in her mind.

With a loud bleat, she slammed her electrically charged tail down as hard as she could on scyther's head, a deafening, crackling blow heard all throughout the gym. Scyther was forced into the ground from the impact, electrolysed body twitching on the ground, the light gone from its eyes.

Charlotte stared, dumbstruck by the scene, barely able to believe what was happening. She dropped to her knees as Static trotted up to her, eyes shining with the joy of victory. Gingerly, Charlotte reached out to pet her velvety nose, only managing to brush it slightly before Static pulled away, shaking her head.

"Thank you Static," Charlotte whispered to her. "I…would have literally lost if it weren't for you." Static knew that, she didn't need to be told. She turned away from her, feeling satisfied that she had taken out her revenge on a scyther, but displeased that her trainer could do nothing but watch her fight. With a juddered sigh, Charlotte returned her pokemon.

A hand came down on her shoulder, prompting her to tense up and look to her side. There, crouched Bugsy, grinning warmly at her. In his outstretched palm was a shimmering metallic badge that was shaped and coloured like the wings of a ledyba. Smiling meekly, Charlotte gratefully received her prize.

Bugsy's smile soon disappeared though as he sat down beside her. "Look, I don't want to sound too harsh but that was not great for a first gym battle. You panicked the whole time and because of that you were unable to direct your pokemon properly. I can tell that you caught that mareep recently, and haven't developed a bond with it yet. And due to your lack of skill and confidence in battle, it believes it can do better on its own."

Charlotte nodded slowly all throughout his speech, aware of all that he was telling her. She knew she couldn't battle like the average trainer yet, she knew that her bond with her pokemon was not up to scratch and she knew she couldn't even consider challenging the next gym without improving on that. If she didn't put her head in the game, she would be a disgrace to her mother and herself.

"I…I did t-train though before I came here," admitted Charlotte. "But I didn't want to and I guess I was kind of lazy with it. I don't want to see my pokemon get hurt, or any pokemon get hurt. It doesn't feel right." Bugsy nodded, unable to fully empathise with her due to how used to battling he was.

"Practice makes perfect, it gets easier, I promise," consoled Bugsy as best he could.

"I hope so," muttered Charlotte with a meek smile as she got to her feet.

Rushing her pokemon to the centre as soon as she had left the gym, Charlotte described her pokemon's injuries in a panic. The nurse tried her best to calm her down, reassuring her that their injuries were not extensive and could easily be fixed. Despite her words, Charlotte remained jittery and anxious until her pokemon returned from her in full health.

For the rest of the afternoon, she kept her pokemon out of their pokeballs. She groomed them, fed them and made sure that they were comfortable and feeling good after their hard battles. Static was not very coercive to Charlotte's attempts but agreed to being brushed – her battle with that scyther had roughed her up and she loathed being dirty.

Once Charlotte had booked out a room to spend the night, she chose to play with Fang until she became too tired to stay up. Her mother had given her a laser pointer, since most young pokemon seem to enjoy playing with them. Fang was no different. Static, however, just watched the scene through tired, irritated eyes, from the bed.

All the while, the new trainer could barely believe she had actually managed to win a gym battle. Even when she was staring at the badge she had received and proudly pinned to the inside of her jacket, she felt like she was imagining it.

Right before bed, Charlotte called her friend and family, telling them about her victory. Gold seemed to be the most enthusiastic about the whole thing, telling her that this was just the beginning of Charlotte's grand tales of adventure and mastery. The girl only laughed at his statements, unable to take him seriously.

She had trouble sleeping that night, unable to get the sight of her injured pokemon out of her mind.


	7. Woman in Green

**Chapter Seven: Woman in Green**

Charlotte fumbled around in her backpack in search of some incense sticks and a lighter. She had been specifically instructed by her mother that as soon as she came across the protector's shrine, she was to place incense inside it, and wish for good luck. Carefully, she lit the sticks, being extra careful to avoid burning herself.

Static and Fang watched on as she did so. Once the sticks were safely inside the wooden box, Charlotte latched closed the white doors, smoke curling out from between the gaps in the slats. She inhaled the musky scent with a deep sigh. Then, she placed her palms together, uttering a small prayer to the forest spirit, asking it to help her on her journey. She could not do this alone.

Static knew the significance of the ritual, whereas Fang did not, expressing his confusion over the human's actions. Once the group set off again, he asked the wool pokemon about it. With a huff, she briefly explained that it is a popular belief that praying at the shrine will bring someone good luck and prosperity, which was something Charlotte needed for her upcoming battles.

The forest was darker that day, due to the thick cloud cover overhead. The shifting light was pale, leaving many dark spots throughout the woods that Charlotte refused to walk into due to her fears. There were more pokemon than usual lurking in the undergrowth, especially bug types that fed upon decaying leaves and mould. She had no desire to catch pokemon like that. There were parts of the woods where trees and shrubs grew so closely together that it was nearly impossible for her to get through.

She encountered one trainer not far from the entrance of the forest. She won – fairly easily this time, which brought her a little bit of confidence. She also was attacked by some wild pokemon as she got deeper in, but her own pokemon were able to fend them off, levelling up in the process.

However, before she could reach the deepest part of the woods, she was stopped by a pair of police officers. Dressed in their familiar blue and black attire, they wore white surgeon's masks over their faces, which concerned the girl as she sauntered up to them, wondering what was going on. The growlithe at their feet yipped at Fang and Static, prompting the former to cling onto Charlotte's leg in surprise.

"Hello young trainer," the first officer greeted, his voice muffled by his mask. Charlotte nodded sheepishly. "Sorry for the inconvenience but the main trail is covered by a thick green fog that has been poisoning the native grass and bug pokemon of the area." Charlotte nodded once more, feeling sorry for all the sick pokemon.

"There is a safer path to the right, but I suggest wearing this mask," he went on as he handed Charlotte her own mask, "and returning your pokemon to their pokeballs, just in case." The young trainer did as she was told, feeling earnestly concerned. She slipped on the mask, and headed off down the heavily wooded path she had been instructed to go down.

This path seemed to have been carved out by pokemon rather than people, since it consisted merely of flattened grass that weaved around the trees. As Charlotte walked she wondered what kind of pokemon would have made the path – probably a stantler. She then began to wonder just where the stantler was going when it made the path – maybe to see his family. She continued this train of thought as she travelled.

Occasionally, when there was a part in the trees and she could see the main trail in the distance, she watched the poisonous green mist swirl in the stagnant breeze. She furrowed her brow at it, unsure of the cause of something so dangerous. She assumed it was just the work of a poison type pokemon but she couldn't be sure.

Eventually, worn out from walking, she took a break under a log that had fallen over the path like a bridge. She had encountered a couple other trainers waiting in the bushes to ambush passer-by's for battles. They scared her every time but her battles with them were enough to raise both her pokemon to level twelve. Fang rested his heavy head in her lap, gnawing on a rock he had found. Gently, Charlotte stroked his smooth, scaly head, listening to his soft purrs.

Static kept her distance, keeping guard. She could sense that something was up and it was making her wool stand on end, electricity coursing through it. She had lived in the wilds all her life and never had she seen fog like that. Either there was a new pokemon inhabiting the woods, or it was human made.

Charlotte, oblivious to the vibe Static was getting, admired the moss on the log above her. Slowly, a caterpie inched its way towards a lusciously green leaf, taking a hungry bite once it arrived, eyes closed as it enjoyed the taste. It was cool under the log; the feeling of the earth beneath her comforted her. She grabbed fistfuls of soft dirt and slimly leaves, sticking her tongue out at the feeling of it between her fingers.

A sudden, eratic movement in Charlotte's bag snapped her out of her peaceful respite. Her bag, which had been sitting beside her, had toppled over, spilling some of its contents. Hurriedly, Charlotte tended to the mess, discovering that it was her egg that had been moving. Heart skipping a beat as she was hit with excitement, she gently withdraw the shuddering incubator from her bag, placing it in front of her. Her pokemon crowded around her. Static didn't even know she had an egg with her.

Eyes glittering, she clicked the button to open the incubator, allowing her to see the various cracks appearing on the very top of the egg. It stopped for a mere moment, before shaking side to side even more violently, the top of the egg splintering off and revealing a pair of feet. Charlotte giggled at its wiggling legs.

"That's not how you do it," she said. Then, all of a sudden, the egg toppled over, smashing the front of the shell in such a way that it could free only its arms. Grinning from ear to ear, Charlotte cheered as the strange little pokemon opened its beady black eyes, staring up at the branches above, little arms and legs still wiggling. Its new trainer reached over and took it in her arms, shushing it as it began to emit little cries.

She examined the new pokemon carefully – she hadn't seen anything like it before. It seemed to have stayed in most of its blue and red, triangle speckled egg, only its fuzzy head, arms and feet showing. Its head seemed to take the shape of a star almost and was as soft as velvet to the touch. Curious, Charlotte drew out her pokedex.

According to the 'dex, the newborn was a male togepi with the ability hustle. It was a normal type, which was well known for their high defence and weak offense. The spike-ball pokemon was known for its tendency to give happiness to trainers who care for it. Cuddling the bawling pokemon in her arms, Charlotte noticed with a frown that it wasn't very happy right now.

"Here, feed it this," came a soft voice from beside her. Charlotte nearly jumped out of her skin as she noticed a woman crouching beside her, part of her face hidden by the bulk of the log. In her hand was a bottle filled with milk. Static let loose a short bleat, trying to warn her trainer of strangers, but Charlotte accepted the bottle with little hesitation, prompting her to huff and sit back on her haunches.

Togepi began to suckle immediately, lapping away hungrily at the pokemon milk.

"T-thank you," smiled Charlotte at the stranger as she sat down beside her, struggling somewhat under the weight of her rotund belly.

She began to study her appearance thoughtfully while the newborn ate. She had grass green hair, matted with leaves. Her ruby eyes seemed welcoming, not holding any hint of malice as she assured Charlotte that it was her duty to aid young trainers in their pokemon rearing. She wore a pastel green summer dress with an immaculate, white smock. A brown cloak was draped around her shoulders, spreading out around her. A strange pokemon sat down in her lap, ruffling the vibrant flowers it had for hands.

"My name is Harumi and this is my partner roselia. Her name is Jasmine," she introduced. With a start, Charlotte coyly introduced herself and her pokemon, hesitating when it came to her togepi.

"Oh, he doesn't have a name yet," she muttered. Harumi giggled pleasantly.

"How about we work together on a name? You can tell me which one you like best," she suggested, smiling sweetly at the new trainer – perhaps a little too sweetly, not that Charlotte noticed. Closing her eyes for a few moments, Harumi took a deep breath and began to think. After a few moments, she let the breath go in a huff.

"Alright, I have four names. Scramble, Benedict, Sunnyside and Omelette. Do you like any of those?" she began, stroking togepi's forehead with the tip of her index finger as she spoke. Meanwhile the roselia on her lap was busy keeping a close watch on Static, who seemed like she was about to attack. Fang was oblivious to the tension, fully captivated by the baby pokemon.

Charlotte faltered for a few moments before her face lit up with another smile. "Sunnyside sounds like a nice name! Sunny for short and it makes sense because togepi are meant to bring happiness," she chirped. Harumi let loose another honeyed giggle, which she muffled with her hand.

"How sweet!" she commented. Charlotte noticed her smile droop and a hard look appear in her ruby eyes as she looked away from her. "I don't want to put a damper on the mood but there are some important things I need to say to you." Charlotte, too, became serious as Harumi elaborated.

"Did you happen to see a man with combed back hair and aviator shades?" Charlotte nodded in response, prompting her to shift uncomfortably. "Alright, please be wary of him. He has quite the temper and I don't want him going around hurting," she placed a hand on her bulging belly before continuing, "…innocent children."

"And about that green fog – those are spores," she revealed. "Those people wearing white radiation suits, I'm sure you've seen them. One of their experiments went foul and this happened. They are cleaning things up as we speak. Incidents like that and the one with the lapras will not occur again." She was trying to remain calm and light as she spoke but she couldn't help but sound angered at the clumsiness of the men in white – they had drawn too much negative attention to themselves.

"Uh…o-okay," wavered Charlotte, speculating as to why Harumi was telling her all this. The green woman forced a smile again, stroking the side of the young girl's face. Charlotte noted that she smelt strongly of fruit and flowers, as if she had spent time growing alongside them.

"Sorry I- just…it- I was warning you," she faltered, unsure of the right way to put it. "Anyway, I must be going, I have lots of things to do today." Struggling under her weight again, she used the log for leverage as she got up. Waving goodbye, she stepped off the path and deep into the shrubbery bordering the path, quickly disappearing in the woods.

Confused, Charlotte stared after her for a few moments, before returning her gaze to her new pokemon. Seeing that he had finished his bottle, she grinned cheerily and tended to capturing him in his own pokeball, ready to get going again.


	8. Adoption

**Chapter Eight: Adoption**

Goldenrod City sprawled alongside the coast of Johto like a great monolith. Granted, it wasn't the largest city in the world, but it was certainly the largest city in Johto. It was the centre of communications and economy in Johto, as evident in its numerous high rise office buildings. If there was something you needed to buy, one could find it in Goldenrod – the range of items available in its many malls and stores was unmatched.

Charlotte found herself totally lost in the place – not physically, but mentally. Having been raised in a small city all her life, to come across a city as large as Goldenrod was terribly overwhelming. Never had she seen so many cars roaring up and down the busy roads, never had she seen so many people and pokemon clogging the streets, never had she seen so many tall buildings and alleys.

She was aware that there was a gym here, but she was nowhere near emotionally prepared to take it on so soon after her previous battle. Instead, she decided to do some window shopping and maybe get some new clothes, since hers were already scuffed up from all her exploring. With Fang clasped tightly in her arms, she got to work having some fun around Goldenrod.

Complete with a new haircut and a shiny gracidea flower hairclip, Charlotte skipped out of the Goldenrod department store, shuddering at the sudden blast of cold air. The heaters must have been on inside since it was rather cool out on the streets. The sun was high in the sky, almost blinding Charlotte as she looked up at it. It was only just before midday, meaning she had much more time to kill.

Fang sat in her backpack, squishing all of her belongings. She had bought him a treat made out of tauros liver that was shaped like a bone, which kept his jaws busy as they walked. She had also bought him a necklace with a teardrop shaped charm that the clerk had told her was meant to boost the power of water type moves.

Kicking an empty can of soda along the gutter, Charlotte hummed to herself. Up ahead, in the city plaza, she noticed that a stage had been set up, made out of a stack of wooden crates. Three men dressed in white, just like the ones she had seen back in Union Cave, had attracted a small crowd of people to their activities.

Curious, Charlotte headed over there. Since she was too short to see through the crowd, she had to awkwardly push her way through the masses, apologising on her way to the front. Once there, she could see just what the fuss was about – these men were handing out pokemon.

There was a billboard titled 'Pokemon Adoption' along with a list of prices for each adoptable pokemon. There were several they were offering – a number of spearow, pidgey and hoot hoot, three mareep, two hoppip and one machop. The pokemon offered were kept in spacious cages to the right of the stage. Heart pounding, Charlotte saw this as a perfect opportunity to get a new pokemon for her team.

"These pokemon here have been found wandering the streets of Goldenrod, abandoned, hurt and sick," explained one of the men, shouting at the top of his voice. "Your care will bring them back to health! So please, show some kindness and adopt one today!" Charlotte's kind heart couldn't help but feel sorry for the pokemon as she scanned her eyes over their miserable faces. She had trouble deciding which one to adopt – they were all great pokemon in their own ways. But she only had so much money.

"I understand what they're trying to do," said a masculine voice to her side. She turned towards him, meeting his moss green eyes. His brow was furrowed, jaw set in tension. "But something just seems off here." Puzzled, Charlotte forced herself to inquire.

"U-uh what?" she stammered. "They a-are trying to find these poor pokemon a family." He turned his gaze away from her, sliding his hands into the pockets of his denim jeans.

"That's what I thought too, at a glance," he began. "Look a little harder. There is discolouration in the skin and feathers of all those pokemon. Each one of them looks like they have been starved and abused beyond what is normal for wild or abandoned pokemon. They look…dead inside," he concluded grimly.

"…I-I don't think so," disagreed Charlotte coyly, trying not to sound rude. She felt like the pokemon would be fine with a little love and attention. She didn't understand exactly what the man was trying to tell her. After a few moments silence, his face lightened up and he forced out a small chuckle.

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid," he muttered. "You looked like you were about to adopt one earlier which one do you want?" Charlotte perked up at that, scanning her eyes over the pokemon once more. Her eyes settled on the machop he had specifically pointed out just then. She had never been particularly fond of them, but for whatever reason, she couldn't take her eyes off it.

"Fang, what do you think," she asked. The crocodilian pokemon peered over her shoulder at the pokemon she was pointing at. Always being one for more friends, no matter the species, he let out a happy click in agreement. Charlotte beamed. "Alright, machop it is." However, her face fell as she checked the price.

"3,000 pokeyen huh?" vocalised the man. "How much do you have?"

"2,500," Charlotte uttered disappointingly, her features drooping. There was a brief moment where she simply stared wistfully at the pokemon, before she made a move to push her way back through the crowd again, upset that she was too poor to adopt one of those sad pokemon. However, before she could leave, the man spoke up again.

"I could get it for you if you promise me something," he proposed. Charlotte turned to him immediately, ready to do whatever he wanted. "Come with me to the pokemon centre so we can see what exactly is wrong with her." It was a strange request but Charlotte didn't mind, so long as she got that poor machop. She nodded in agreement.

He then approached the closest man in white, requesting to purchase the machop. Whilst he did so, Charlotte studied his appearance, swearing that he looked somewhat familiar.

His spiky golden brown hair appeared to have been styled using product. His engaging green eyes possessed a look of seriousness though if one stared for long enough, they could see the mischievousness behind it all. They shone just as brightly as the pedant around his neck. He wore a black dress shirt with a raised collar that fit his toned physique well. His jeans were also a tight fit.

Charlotte noticed that he had six pokeballs attached to his belt – a sight that made her uneasy. Most trainers with six pokemon were known to be strong.

In a flash of hot realisation, she recognised him as one of the gym leaders of the neighbouring Kanto region – Green Oak. She had heard stories of his long-standing rivalry with the missing champion Red and how their battles were amazing enough that they used to draw great crowds that were enough to fill a stadium. Limbs shaking, Charlotte could barely comprehend that such a man was buying a pokemon for her.

"Here," he said, snapping her out of her thoughts as he handed her machop's pokeball. "Now, let's fulfil your side of the bargain and head to the pokemon centre." Charlotte nodded meekly, unable to meet his eyes in her embarrassment.

As soon as the nurse scanned machop's pokeball, she broke into a panic. She quickly called upon another nurse and a chansey assistant to follow her to the emergency room immediately. Machop was let out of its pokeball and laid down on a bed before being promptly wheeled down the hall.

"Green, is it going to be okay?" exclaimed Charlotte, panic-stricken. He shrugged expansively, expression grim and solemn.

"Just like I thought – there is something seriously wrong with those pokemon they were selling," he replied, more to himself than Charlotte.

He seemed genuinely concerned as he placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, telling her to relax, stay calm and wait for the nurse to come back with results. Trembling, Charlotte slumped down on a nearby lounge, Fang scurrying onto her lap, sensing her unease. He nudged her hand with his muzzle, leading her to shakily pet him. Green sat beside her, tilting his head backwards and letting go of a deep sigh.

No words were exchanged between them as the minutes crawled by. Charlotte did not relax throughout this time – she was too concerned for the health of the machop she adopted. She hadn't even interacted with the creature yet, but her kind heart was predisposed to pity for pokemon and people she didn't even know.

It felt like years had passed by the time the two nurses returned from the emergency room, this time without machop. Charlotte leapt to her feet and was at the counter in moments, totodile in her arms, asking about the sick pokemon. The nurses seemed weary, yet relieved all the same.

"There appears to have been some bacteria infecting machop's bloodstream which ultimately makes her tired and withdrawn. We have never seen anything like it, but the medications we have seem to be working," she explained. "With luck, you should be able to pick her up tomorrow afternoon with a course of antibiotics. But I would suggest keeping her out of battles for at least a week."

The nurse spoke in a withheld tone, trying to put it in such a way that wasn't too gory for the young girl. Charlotte didn't quite understand all that the nurse was trying to say but nodded anyway.

"Would I be able to speak with you privately?" she questioned Green in a hushed voice, seeming extremely concerned all of a sudden. He nodded, and the woman led him into a spare recovery room down the hall. Charlotte listened to the doors click behind them, leaving her alone. She stood stock still for a time, trying to figure out what would be best to do now.

She wanted to stay until she had machop with her again, but she knew it would be ages until that happened and even someone as anxious with worry as her gets bored. She needed something to get her mind of her worries about her new pokemon. Therefore, she hesitantly left the pokemon centre, setting off in the direction of the nearest park, which just so happened to be across the road.

Green leant against the external wall of the pokemon center, massaging his temples. He had a feeling something was off with the whole adoption scenario – with those pokemon. His little chat with the nurse revealed to him that the bacteria wasn't initially detrimental to machop's health – in fact, the reason for machop's emotional withdrawal and weariness was due to the bacteria somehow forcing its body to work harder and rapidly produce more muscle mass.

It overworked the body so much that it actually became impossible for the pokemon to sustain itself, leading to malnutrition and actual weakness. In this way, it was identical to pokerus. Affected pokemon's skin was covered in tiny, white, bacterial growths which caused discolouration in the skin – it appeared to be a side effect.

All these symptoms were too specific to be organic – this bacterium was manufactured and the prime suspects were the ones putting those pokemon up for adoption. Green had planned to call the police to crack down on them, but they had all but disappeared from the plaza and he wasn't about to start some wild goose chase without a clear indication to where they went off to.

Apparently, those men in white were part of a Johto-born organisation of medical researchers known as the 'Spore Initiative'. Over the twenty years since their creation, they have had a couple of medical break throughs that improved the lives of pokemon in particular, but there have been many cases of experiments gone wrong that led to the endangerment of lives instead.

The reason as to why the government hadn't shut them down yet, Green had no clue.

Upon asking around Goldenrod, he discovered that they owned a government-funded laboratory in the Underground, in the old Team Rocket hide-out. If Green was going to find immediate answers, that was the best place for him to go.

Pushing off the wall, he chose to send out his machamp – if anyone down there threatened him, it would quickly silence them. It roared as it materialized before him, flexing its double pairs of muscles. With that, they headed towards the nearest stairs to the Goldenrod underground, prepared to face whatever came before them.

Goldenrod's underground subway was host to many low-rent stores and stalls, some of which seeming pretty shady. The tunnel was lit by white florescent tube lights, some of which flickered in an irritating, strobing fashion. In the darkest parts of the tunnels, away from prying eyes, Green knew there to be illegal trades and battles. It wasn't his business to be involved in such things – his sights were set on the white, steel doors to the side of one particular branch of the underground.

Upon approaching the doors, he noticed a large 'S' painted onto the door in green, a sign of the Spore Initiative's presence. He also saw the key pad to the left of the door, the pin to which he obviously had no clue off. Weighing up his options, he chose to press the buzzer button on the keypad and see whether or not they would give him a tour – he is a gym leader after all and with such a title comes authority.

He didn't have to wait long before a tone rang out from behind the doors, which swung inwards to reveal a young man dressed in a lab coat, with a surgeon's mask covering his nose and mouth. He pulled the mask down to his neck before he spoke.

"Gym Leader Green," he said, sounding a little surprised. "What brings you to our humble laboratory?" Green noticed the man's cautionary glance at his machamp before meeting his eyes. The brunette smiled warmly as he assumed a casual pose.

"Well I caught wind of your organisation's great work and I've been in Johto lately so I figured I might as well scope things out," he said. "Hey, if I think things are good enough I might even put in a word to my superiors about the Spore Initiative being funded in Kanto," he added as a bit of incentive. The grunt's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Y-yeah sure," he stammered. "Welcome, I'll give you the grand tour of our Goldenrod facility."

The man stepped aside, allowing Green to enter the facility, followed by his machamp who had to duck his head on the way in. The laboratory was not large, as it was built in the largely unused basement of Goldenrod's largest department store, but it seems that through a few renovations, they've managed to cram absolutely everything a laboratory needs into the space.

The first thing Green noticed was just how pristinely clean the place was. He knew little of what the basement was like before, but he could tell that the smooth, white paint coating the walls was fresh and that the beige tiles had been vigorously scrubbed. There appeared to be a total of six labs present in the facility, each fitted with a rectangular glass window for observations.

Green's guide stopped in front of the first lab. "I'm sure you want to hear about what we do here," he stated. The scientist seemed nervous as he exchanged glances with another scientist inside the lab. Green took a few steps forward, peering through the window. There, he saw numerous potted plants that hung from the walls and the ceiling. Two large beds sat in the centre of the room, a vileplume seated on the one closest to the door.

Green watched with furrowed eyebrows as one of the two scientists present in the room fed the pokemon some sort of amber mixture. It screwed up its face at the taste, but didn't make too much of a fuss. He noticed that both the scientists were wearing gas masks, most likely to protect themselves from vileplume's spores.

"We use lab 1 and 2 for the collection of plant and pokemon matter. We hope that we will be able to use their biological components to create break-through new-age medicine," he explained nonchalantly. Green nodded in approval.

"Go on, I would like to see more of your good work," he said as he was lead past the second lab and towards the third and fourth. As they walked on, Green could see that his guide was becoming more and more anxious, as if something was about to pounce on him. However, he did not let his nerves show in his speech.

"These two labs are where we perform various testing on the biological components gathered in labs 1 and 2," he said. Green had been expecting him to elaborate further but he said nothing more. Peering inside, he saw that lab 3 was set up just like any other biological testing facility – nothing out of the ordinary. "Lab 4 in particular is where we work with spores."

"Interesting," muttered Green under his voice. "But I have to ask," he spoke up, turning to face the scientist directly. "What kind of testing are you doing with these components?" The guide was silent for a few moments before shrugging expansively.

"Not my clearance, I'm afraid Mr. Oak," he told. "I usually work in lab 1 and 2." His expression seemed to lighten up as he went on, as if he had figured something out. "In fact, I don't even have the clearance to know what is going on in labs 5 and 6. All I know is that is where the magic happens." Green's face fell as he moved closer to his guide, prompting him to take a precautionary step away.

"So where do you keep the rescue pokemon? I've heard that you have worked with the Aether Foundation to conserve pokemon," Green pointed out, placing his hands on his hips.

"Downstairs," the scientist answered swiftly. "I'm not allowed to take guests down there."

"So this facility was in charge of that adoption held in Goldenrod's plaza earlier today?" Green put forth as casually as possible. As a follow up, he added, "That was very charitable – just imagine how the lives of both pokemon and people were enriched." Now his guide was visibly tensing up, only adding further evidence to Green's investigation – something was very off here. Something just didn't feel genuine.

"Yes. We wish to give those pokemon a better chance at life," he replied curtly.

"You know I can't help but wonder why this medically advanced facility couldn't make the effort to cure whatever ailments the pokemon have," criticised Green as he slid his arm over the scientist's shoulders, preventing him from escaping. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as Green's machamp leering closer, flexing its fists.

" ," he hissed. "I think it's time I got back to work." Green released him from his grip with a heavy sigh as disappointment rung through him – if he tried to say here longer, he would draw even more suspicion to himself. He got what he needed from them at the moment anyway.

"Alright then, guess I'll be smelling you later," he chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll see myself out." With that, he turned his back on the scientist, whistling for his machamp to follow. He could feel the scientist's eyes glaring into his back as he headed towards the door – there would be no wandering off for further investigations.

Once he had returned to the Goldenrod tunnels, he quickly dialled the number of his infamous rival. He had half been expecting him not to answer, so he was a little late to respond when he did.

With an exaggerated groan, he said: "I hate admitting you are right, Red, but the Spore Initiative is definitely involved in some shady business."


	9. True Training

**Chapter Nine: True Training**

"I-I was t-trying m-," Charlotte choked out before being interrupted by her mother's angry voice.

"You can try all you want but you won't be able to continue if you don't have faith in yourself and the bond between you and your pokemon," drilled Janette Evergreen firmly. Charlotte knew she had to challenge the gym soon and considering that her last gym was only a couple days ago, she couldn't bear to do it again so soon with her lack of confidence. So she turned to her mother for advice, completely expecting her to be angry.

"I'm just afraid of my p-pokemon getting hurt and w-what if I lose?" she stammered, trying hard not to let the tears fall from her eyes. "You'll get even angrier at me!"

There was a heavy sigh from her mother as she changed her tone, suddenly feeling a little guilty. "Look, Charlotte I will be disappointed if you lose but I won't be angry. Not even I won all my gym battles on the first try," she explained, trying to prevent her daughter from getting down on herself even more.

"Fang's jaw f-fell out," stuttered the girl, prompting a chuckle from her mother.

"And you returned him to his pokeball. By law, if a pokemon is too injured to continue fighting, they are to return to their pokeballs. Gym battles are fully regulated and the leader's pokemon are trained to cease attacking before their opponent is seriously hurt," Janette explained carefully. "It is actually more likely for your pokemon to kill the gym leader's pokemon.

Charlotte didn't know that. She opened and closed her mouth a few times like a magikarp deprived of air. "Okay," she mustered, relief colouring her tone.

"Go out and train for the rest of the day. You got a new pokemon right? That machop. The Goldenrod City gym focuses on normal types so that pokemon will be essential to your win," commanded Janette. "The more you battle the more confident you will become," she added.

"Y-yes mum," Charlotte sniffled as her mother disconnected the call. Janette was never very good at ending conversations. Leaning back on the pokemon centre's lounge, the trainer pocketed her pokegear and hugged her togepi closer to her. The baby pokemon clucked happily in response.

She had spent the rest of the previous day playing with her pokemon, bonding with them, grooming them, so on and so forth. She realised that she already had four pokemon, including her sick machop, and she had only left home a few days ago. It was incredibly overwhelming to be responsible for those four creatures already – she wondered if she even had the fortitude to handle them along with two down the track.

Sunnyside, sensing his trainer's distress, made a small chirping sound, drawing her attention to him. He grinned broadly, prompting a small smile to appear on her lips.

"I'm going to try for you guys," she said as she stroked the side of his face. "I hope we can all be friends." She just needed time – time to bond with them, time to gain confidence, just like her mother told her to do.

"Charlotte Evergreen, please come to the front desk," called the nurse over the intercom. Charlotte hopped to her feet and sprinted to the counter, gripping onto the edge as she asked for her pokemon.

"She is feeling a lot better," smiled the nurse warmly. "In fact, she should be fighting fit tomorrow. I've never seen a pokemon recover this fast, actually." As she spoke, Charlotte sent out all her pokemon so that they would be able to meet the new member of their team. On cue, a chansey wheeled a stretcher over to the trainer.

The machop looked up, seeing her new trainer for the first time. Her ruby red eyes met Charlotte's blue ones, filling with wariness, her muscles tensing up. "As a victim of abuse, this little one will need some time to warm up to people again," explained the nurse as she handed Charlotte machop's pokeball. Frowning sympathetically, she slowly approached the machop.

"Hello," she cooed. "Please don't be afraid of me – I'm going to be your trainer. I'm going to love you and care for you." Machop didn't look convinced at all, her brow furrowing in response. Charlotte bent down to her eye level and held out her hand. "Put your hand in mine. I won't do anything, I promise." She remembered that her mother had done this with a growlithe that had been badly beaten by its past trainer.

Again, machop didn't look convinced, but Charlotte was patient. Minutes crawled by, punctuated only by tension and Static's growing boredom. Machop kept glancing between Charlotte's eyes and her hand, until finally, she cautiously placed her hand atop hers. Charlotte smiled and did nothing to her as she had promised.

"May I call you Athena?" she asked. Hesitantly, machop nodded, drawing her hand away. The girl beamed as she introduced herself and all her pokemon, all of which cheerily welcomed the new pokemon, except for Static who remained bitter as always.

As per tradition, Charlotte scanned Athena with her pokedex, taking note of all it told her. She was ARS level eleven, had the ability guts and knew the moves low kick, leer, focus energy and karate chop. Charlotte's mouth dropped open once she learnt that it was strong enough to lift and throw a weight equivalent to one hundred humans and that even in doing so, its muscles never cramp.

"Wow Athena!" she gasped. "You're really something!" A pink blush crept onto the pokemon's cheeks, causing her to look away, frowning. "Don't be like that – let's go get some ice cream before we throw in the towel for the day," she suggested. All of her pokemon rejoiced at that, even Athena to some extent, who greatly distrusted this girl and her plethora of little pokemon.

For all she knew, Charlotte could turn around and jab a needle through her tear duct.

"Man these guys…," Gold trailed off as he inspected each one of Charlotte's pokemon. "Are going to need some work like that mareep and machop are pretty distrustful of you. You can't force pokemon to fight like that." The girl frowned and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. She nodded in agreement though, knowing that Athena in particular didn't approve of her yet.

Gold had called her that morning, asking if she was anywhere near Goldenrod so they could meet up. Obviously she was so she asked if he could help her train her pokemon up for Goldenrod's gym. He said it was fine but he only had a couple hours to spare so she would have to train largely on her own.

So they met up on route 34 and had set up camp beside a brooklet that led into a small pool. Currently, Fang swam around cheerily, occasionally splashing water at the rest of Charlotte's team. He was eventually sparked by Static, leading him to leave them alone. The air was cool, and a light breeze tore through the bronze trees. There were quite a few trainers about that day, offering a lot of opportunity for Charlotte to practice.

"Okay," began Gold, folding his arms and smirking knowingly. "Here's how you got to go about it. Since you aren't confident in your skills yet, I suggest honing your pokemon's moves on wild pokemon," Charlotte opened her mouth, about to express concern over the wild pokemon when Gold interrupted her, "- and before you start, they will be fine they deal with stuff like this all the time. If you are having particular trouble with a move, practice it on some rocks or trees and stuff."

"Uh-okay," Charlotte stammered. She called Fang over, since he was the most conducive to her commands. Glancing around, she found a nearby boulder to work on. "Fang, use water gun on that boulder." The totodile did as he was told with little trouble, not really understanding the point of the exercise. Gold then came over, bent down to Fang, and gave him little tips on how he could improve his attack.

"Now, I'm not Green but that should make things a little better," he said nonchalantly before returning to Charlotte's side.

"How am I supposed to give them tips like that?" asked the girl, confused.

"You've learnt things in school, seen stuff on T.V. And you'll pick things up from other trainers." he said. "I bet you could come up with something, you're not stupid." Charlotte nodded, wracking her brains for all the information she had pertaining pokemon moves and the like. However, before she could do anything constructive, Gold was back at it again.

"Alright then once you've built up your confidence doing all of that, you move onto the trainers. Now it's pretty much illegal to challenge anyone that is too high or too below your level. Make sure to ask your opponent how many gym badges they have and stuff," he explained. Charlotte wondered what kind of trainers he would face, since he's the champion of Johto and all – they must be some frighteningly strong individuals. Then again, Gold was extremely powerful and he was a nice guy, if not a little boastful and arrogant.

With Gold's primary advice out of the way, he helped Charlotte for what was left of his two hours spare time. Before leaving, he helped her set up camp for the night, telling her that sleeping outdoors would help her toughen up. Charlotte was completely against the idea but Gold insisted. He also advised that she stay out here for at least a couple of days, which seemed like a long time to her.

This particular training session was much more difficult than her others, mostly because she was pushing herself and her pokemon harder, trying not to succumb to her desire to just play for the rest of the day rather than cause unnecessary stress.

On top of that, she didn't get along that well with her pokemon in battle. Static tended to do her own thing, Athena panicked just as much as Charlotte did and Sunnyside was too weak to participate in many battles without having to be switched out. He also had a tendency not to listen to her as he would prefer to chase butterfree than pay attention to battle. She had no problem with Fang though; he was completely willing to listen to her commands.

Athena was the least obedient – she acted like everything posed a threat to her, even her own trainer. This made her on edge and prone to attacking even harmless things. She even threw a punch at her trainer, whose immediate response was to fall over backwards in fright. Surprised, Athena pulled the punch and no one was hurt. Charlotte simply couldn't understand why she was behaving like that.

By the end of the day, she felt like little had changed, despite the fact that her pokemon had all gone up one or two levels, except for Sunnyside who went all the way up to level five. Charlotte supposed that despite his attitude, he was a quick learner.

Charlotte experienced an increasing sense of worry and fear as night began to creep in. She wanted to simply take down her tent and scurry off to the bright safety of the pokemon centre but she forced herself to stay. She ended up sealing herself and her pokemon up in her tiny tent before the sun had even fully set, since she was too afraid to be out in the dark where predatory pokemon lurked.

It felt strange to have not showered or eaten before bed. But there was some kind of rebellious pleasure in not brushing her teeth though. She fed her pokemon, grooming each one and assuring that they were in tip-top condition after an exhausting day. She then crawled into her sleeping bag, Fang and Sunnyside snuggling right beside her. Static chose to curl up near her legs since even she was chilly at night. Athena, however, chose to sleep at the very end of the sleeping bag, under a spare blanket, wide awake with fear.

Peering out over the orb of her tail, Static bleated at machop, accusing her for being ridiculous enough to distance herself from the warmth of her trainer – it was freezing. Athena did nothing in response, not even after Charlotte's invitations.

Even with the companionship of her pokemon, the fear of being out in the open without the protection of nearby adults was enough to prevent Charlotte from getting much sleep.

She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her.


	10. Goldenrod Gym

(A/N: thank you all for your favourites, follows and reviews - it means more to me than you think :)

 **Chapter Ten: Goldenrod Gym**

Despite her best wishes, Charlotte did as Gold had advised and spent the next three days training on route 34. Surprisingly enough, the time passed quickly for the young trainer as she absorbed all her energy in trying to make herself and her pokemon stronger.

With each battle Charlotte became a little more confident, though she couldn't say she fully trusted herself yet. Athena seemed to warm up to Charlotte's pokemon a little bit, though she was still largely distant from the group. Everyone had successfully reached level fifteen, except for Sunnyside who lagged five levels behind.

Even after all that training, Charlotte couldn't help but feel she wouldn't be able to stand up to Whitney. She had heard stories of how powerful she was – how her cutesy miltank could crush trucks with her stomp and rollout attacks.

Many of the pokemon in the gym were female too, and were capable of seducing her male pokemon into not attacking, meaning that it would be risky for her to use Fang and Sunnyside. Normal type pokemon were also notorious for having a very high tolerance to attack.

Thus, Charlotte couldn't help but seize up in front of the gym, trying to pull herself together. She had come up with a few plans throughout her training that she prayed would help her beat this gym – if she could adhere to these plans, she may be able to garner some more confidence. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that her mother would not be mad at her if she lost.

Stepping through the sliding doors, she set to work navigating the gym's vibrant pink, yellow and orange maze. Quickly, she encountered one of the gym's trainers, allowing her to test the functionality of her strategy. It wasn't the most intelligent strategy, she had to admit, but it seemed to work: reduce their ability to attack as much as possible.

They had a high defence, which means that it would take longer for her pokemon to bring them down. Therefore, in order to keep them out on the battlefield longer, she had to reduce the amount of times they were hit. Miltank, in particular, was known to have a lower special defence, which Charlotte planned to access by utilizing Static's long-range attacks.

Progressing through the gym was difficult, not because of the maze, but because most of the gym assistants had quite a few pokemon. With luck, she managed to get to the stage where Whitney had set herself up, lounging back in a beach chair, reading a magazine. Before engaging in battle, Charlotte shakily healed Static and Athena up with a couple of super potions. Static snorted at her nervousness.

"Alright, I'm going to use you first Athena," Charlotte warned, nodding at the machop. Athena lowered her eyes before nodding. She did enjoy battling – especially beyond a lab setting where she wasn't pushed to her absolute limits.

"Oh man!" groaned Whitney as she closed her magazine, setting it aside on a nearby table. She pulled her pink hair into two side-tails before stretching her arms high in the air. Two of her assistants came by and moved the chair to the side of the stage as to prepare it for battle. "I didn't get to finish my magazine. No matter, I'm sure this will be over quick."

Charlotte stepped up onto the stage, Athena taking her placed in front of her, tensing her muscles. In a burst of red light, the pudgy, pink form of a clefairy appeared on the opposite side of the stage. It winked at Athena, waggling its pointer fingers in the air. The machop didn't seem impressed.

"I don't really like fighting types," said Whitney. "So let's show it a lesson with doubleslap!"

As always, fear flashed before Athena's eyes as she was sucked into the atmosphere of battle with a hot, painful slap from her opponent. She crossed her muscular forearms in front of her, bracing as she was hit with another slap, leaving red marks on her arms.

"It's okay Athena, let's," Charlotte took another deep breath to steady her rapidly rising nerves, "…fight back with focus energy." She wanted to get this fight over with as quickly as possible since she knew that no participant of this battle wanted it to drag on too long. Athena parted her legs and bent down, growling as she concentrated her energy, creating a halo of yellow light about her.

"Metronome it before it gets too charged up," commanded Whitney.

Clefairy skipped cutely as it waggled its finger. The seemingly harmless action prompted the pink pokemon to leap up into the air, soaring for a few moments as if it had gained wings. With a cheerful hum, it shot towards Athena at lightning speed. Charlotte froze, completely unsure what move that was – but it definitely looked dangerous.

"Athena dod- no, grab it if you can!" she shouted, the words flowing from her lips before she could put actual thought behind it. Athena heard her trainer just as clefairy whammed into her, scrambling to grab hold of the ball of pink energy as she took the full brunt of the attack. She could have sworn she felt one of her ribs crack as clefairy's attack wore off, leaving it trapped in her grasp.

The large amount of damage Athena took was not missed by Charlotte. Concern wracked through her as she realised it must have been a super effective attack, thus severely decreasing the amount of time Athena could continue battling for. She could only hope that metronome wouldn't pull an attack like that again.

Now to follow through with her previous command: "Seismic toss." On cue, Athena forced her aching body to bend over backwards, suplexing the clefairy into the hard wood of the stage, letting loose the energy it had concentrated. It cried out in pain as Whitney's eyes lit up with hurt.

"Hey, you'll pay for that," she pouted. "Hop up and use mimic!"

Clefairy narrowed its eyes, turned around, and used exactly the same move Athena had just demonstrated. Since the move did a certain amount of damage largely irrespective of type, Athena took significant damage, yelping as she was tossed at Charlotte's feet.

"Athena!" gasped her trainer, stooping down to her. "Are you okay? Do you want to come back?"

The machop seriously considered her offer, but pulled herself up and onto her feet anyway. If she learnt anything from her days as a lab rat, one of the greatest ways to make her owner disappointed in her was to offer a poor performance. She knew she was stronger than this.

"Alright just let me know if it's too much," assured Charlotte as she gathered her confidence to launch another attack. "Okay, let's try low sweep."

"Metronome," called Whitney again simultaneously. "Usually my opponent pokemon are infatuated by now is that machop a girl?" she asked like it was the most preposterous situation she could have been beheld. Charlotte nodded, wondering why a female machop seemed so strange.

Meanwhile, Athena sprinted towards clefairy. She wasn't fast, but she hoped she could reach it before it finished waggling its finger and summoning some random attack down from the heavens. Her wish was granted – her foot swept towards the pink fairy's legs, causing her to topple over and smack her face on the ground.

To her horror, clefairy's finger didn't stop waggling as it began to glow a faint white. The light surrounded Athena in a haze, prompting her mind to swim for a few moments. Once the confusion cleared, she found she could no longer remember her last attack. She looked back at Charlotte in concern.

"What was that?" she asked, just as worried as Athena.

"Disable, I think. Now your machop can't use its most powerful attack," she giggled. "Alright now let's use encore to really drive this home." Charlotte's eyes widened as she realised that would mean that her pokemon would be incapable of attacking. Panic set in full force as she came to terms with the fact that there was no way to dodge this.

"I'm sorry Athena," she muttered as she raised her pokeball. Athena's raised her hand, trying to let her trainer know that she could take it – she would wait until encore or disable wore off. Even if that meant withstanding clefairy's attacks to her final bar of health – she wasn't going to look weak.

"Oh no," Charlotte exclaimed. She desperately wanted to return her but she didn't want to go against her pokemon's wishes. After an internal debate, she decided to let Athena continue battling but if she got too injured, Charlotte would return her no matter her qualms.

Athena scrunched up her face as she tucked herself into a little ball, hoping that it would boost her chances of taking whatever was to come. Whitney raised an eyebrow at the display. "So…you're just going to sit there and take it? Okay," she shrugged. "Slap that machop."

Clefairy's tiny hands began to bat at Athena's grey skin. Each individual slap rang out throughout the stage, causing Charlotte to flinch each time. On their own, a slap didn't do much damage, but it sure did in succession. Athena remained curled up in a ball though, eyes squeezed shut.

"Hardy little thing," sighed Whitney. "Alright let's try to finish this with another metronome." With a waggle of its finger, a blinding beam of golden light shot forth, hitting Athena full force. She was forced out of her position from the impact, skidding backwards as she tried her hardest to withstand the attack.

"Athena why aren't you trying to dodge all this?" cried Charlotte, confused by her pokemon's seemingly self-destructive actions. It felt like an age before the light faded, enabling the trainer to get a good look at the fate of her pokemon. She lay sprawled on the ground, perfectly still.

"Athena?" Charlotte called desperately. She wanted to run over there and help her up, see if she was okay but it was against the league laws. A long silence passed, punctuated by one of the referees coming over to check the condition of the pokemon.

"She's conscious," he said. Slowly, Athena began to pull herself to her feet, fighting against the pain as she forced her battered muscles to move. She swayed from side to side gently as she tilted her head towards her trainer, nodding.

Charlotte had no desire to let her pokemon battle on like this but the determination in her eyes was unlike anything she had seen before. "Okay, I t-think that encore is over. Let's try to even the score with karate chop." Moving much slower than before, Athena lurched forward, a hot, red glow surrounding her hands as she struck at the clefairy, hitting it hard with its super effective attacks.

"Counter with doubleslap!" called Whitney desperately, knowing that machop won't give up until it faints or her clefairy is out. What followed was a blur as clefairy tried to block machop's hands with its own. It seemed to work at first, until clefairy's strength began to give out. Whitney was seriously beginning to believe that machop's muscles really don't wear out as her attacks began to slip in, hitting hard.

Finally, clefairy crumpled in a heap at Athena's feet, before returning to her pokeball. The fighting type backed away slowly, almost tripping over here and there. Charlotte bent down to her once she had returned, gently placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Athena, that's enough," she said firmly, locking stares. The machop shook her head vehemently, shaking off Charlotte's grip. No matter how frightened the fighting type was of failure, of loss in battle, of severe injury, she wasn't going to give up until she fainted – she was going to prove that she was strong enough to not be cast away.

"Please, you're going to get seriously hurt and I can't cope with that," pleaded Charlotte. Receiving no response from her pokemon, she hissed through her teeth and brought out her pokeball, attempting to return her. To her horror, it wouldn't work; Athena simply dodged the beam each time. Before Charlotte could try anything else, Whitney had already sent out her prize miltank.

"Hurry up," she complained. The miltank pawed at the ground, its udders swaying with each movement, its bulk towering over machop. The smaller pokemon flinched at the sight of it, but moved forward anyway, hoping that disable had worn off so she could use low sweep again.

"Focus energy followed by low sweep," said Charlotte, barely able to think through all her concern. She couldn't help but think this is her fault – Athena was going to get even more hurt because she didn't have the authority to force her back into her pokeball. Hesitantly, Athena began to build whatever energy she had left.

"Stomp that pesky thing into the ground!" called Whitney. With a loud moo, miltank charged forward on all four hooves. This time, Athena broke her concentration to try and dodge as the cow pokemon reared up and slammed its hooves down. She was able to dodge one of them, not expecting a second attack. She held her arm up to try and counter it, but it did little to reduce the damage and she fell to her knees.

"Low sweep," repeated Charlotte desperately, cold sweat breaking out on her skin. Athena acted as quickly as she could, sweeping her leg underneath the fat cow, causing it to topple over comically with a loud snort. "Keep using it, we got to do as much damage as possible." Charlotte hated to beat up such a cute pokemon like this but she just wanted Athena to win so she could get medical care.

While the miltank was down, Athena continued to use low kick, causing Whitney to exclaim. "Hey that's rude! I ought to kick _you_ out for that," she growled. "Use our infamous rollout!" Athena tried to scurry away, knowing full well how horrible that attack would be if it managed to hit enough times.

But in her weakened state, she wasn't able to get away in time. The cow pokemon curled up into a ball, spinning itself right towards its opponent, hitting her square in the back. Athena, panicking, could do nothing as she was hit time and time again, despite her attempts to flee, to block; miltank only gained speed with each attack, increasing the amount of damage done.

When miltank's attack finally ended, Athena was on her hands and knees. She could barely hear or see now – her trainer's sobbing sounded distant, watery, like she had been trapped underwater. She was on her hands and knees now, coughing up phlem and blood.

"I can't bear to see a pokemon like this," winced Whitney. "By law you need to switch her out now it is considered abuse to force her to battle on like that." Wordlessly, Charlotte ran over to her wounded pokemon, who tried to struggled as she lifted her up, shushing her.

"It's okay," she muttered repeatedly. "I know you are trying to prove that you're strong. And you are, the fact you lasted this long is amazing. But you…you…could d-die if you stay out there. I don't want you to die." Athena nuzzled into her trainer's shoulder as she began to cry. Charlotte stood up, carrying the pokemon to her side of the arena, choosing to keep her in her arms for the rest of the battle. It was time for her backup pokemon to sort things out.

"Static, you can do this," muttered Charlotte, trying to reassure herself more than anyone as she unclasped the mareep's pokeball and sent her out onto the stage. A blast of electricity sparked from her fleece as the sheep pokemon glared at the miltank in seething rage. She looked back at the state of Athena, bleating angrily at her lack of self-preservation.

It was always up to her to finish these battles and she was getting real sick of it.

"Alright, start using thunderwave and keep using it until miltank is paralysed," commanded Charlotte. She hoped that after all the training they did, Static would be more conducive to her instructions now.

Static immediately started sending waves of static electricity towards miltank, the majority of which it managed to roll its bulk around to dodge it. "Use your most powerful stomp attack to fracture the stage beneath that sheep's feet," countered Whitney.

With an angry moo, miltank forwent dodging in favour of slamming her hoof down with an echoing thump on the hardwood, causing it to split and crack in a line right towards Static. The mareep ceased her attack, knowing that the paralysis would set in soon. The ground beneath her began to fall away as she tried to avoid the cracked areas, a plan already coming to mind as she looked at them. She began to smirk.

"Restore your health with milkdrink," sighed Whitney.

"What!" began Charlotte as the cow pokemon squeezed one of its four udders, shooting nutritional milk right into its own mouth. The young trainer grimaced at the gruesome sight and its implications – the majority of Athena's work had been undone. "That's not fair! I don't heal my pokemon mid-battle!" complained Charlotte. Whitney shrugged.

"Let's rollout," she said. "Our prize move will easily pick this pokemon off."

However, miltank found that it was having severe difficulty moving like it did before – the static energy invading its muscles was causing it to seize up. It did manage to kick off a rollout attack though it was much slower and thus easier for Static to dodge.

Charlotte saw this opportunity: "Static, charge while dodging if you can." Her fleece began to crackle even more wildly, her horns ringing with electricity, her red orb glowing as bright as day. She was a glowing ball of lightning as she used what little speed she had to dodge some of miltank's attacks. She couldn't dodge them all though and every one that hit did enough damage to wind her and form nasty bruises underneath her wool.

"I feel like you were planning on using those cracks in the stage we made earlier to trap my miltank," began Whitney, distracted Charlotte. It was true; she was planning on doing that. "But little do you know, me and miltank plan on using it before you do!"

"Break out of rollout and use stomp again!" she called enthusiastically.

Eyes widening, Charlotte tried to warn her pokemon. Static knew what was happening and tried to move away from miltank's range. However, her injuries from that rollout took more out of her than she had expected, causing her to cramp up. With considerable effort, miltank fought against its paralysis to batter the stage again, causing it to fracture further, large pieces of the stage falling in.

The ground beneath Static crumbled, causing her to plummet. She hit the concrete floor some distance beneath with a painful bleat. Her cries only increased as she was hit by a rain of broken floor pieces. She lay trapped under the wood for a few moments, panting heavily, trying to regain the strength to move again.

That miltank was a lot stronger than she had expected. If she didn't finish this battle off one or two moves, she was going to get just as hurt as Athena did. She couldn't believe that pokemon had pushed herself so hard. She was almost jealous – she didn't want to be shown up like that.

Ignoring her trainer's cries from above, Static concentrated all of her electricity, just as Athena had concentrated her energy. Her electricity began to crackle blue as she eased herself to her feet, feeling herself fill with an indescribable amount of energy – energy that she had never felt before. It felt white and hot in her chest, creeping along her veins and into her every cell. Her body felt like it needed to adjust to accommodate the ever-expanding power.

It took her a few moments to realise what this feeling was. And once she did, she couldn't help but grin, suddenly finding the energy to jump back up onto the stage. She managed to land on her hind hooves, wobbling a bit in the unfamiliar stance.

"Static!" gasped Charlotte, gawking at her pokemon's new form.

She looked like a completely different pokemon, well, she was. Her white fleece had decreased in its coverage, covering only her head and chest. Her blue, velvety fur covering elsewhere had all but gone, revealing bare, pink skin and black stripes. Her red orb had changed its hue to blue, glowing larger and brighter than ever. Blue electricity crackled over her as lividly as snakes.

Filled with confidence at the sight of her pokemon's stronger form, she furrowed her brow. Athena watched the discourse with wide eyes, amazed by Static's integrity.

"Miltank, get moving with another rollout, fight that paralysis," pressed Whitney, sweat beading on her brow. The cow pokemon struggled to move by this point – the paralysis had fully set in now, succeeding in locking up its muscles so that it could no longer attack. Charlotte realised that her and Static had one against scyther using the exact same method.

"Let's get this over with," grinned Charlotte. "Static, use your best thunder shock!" A beam of electric blue shot erupted forth from the flaaffy, striking miltank square in the chest, causing it to scream in pain as electricity stung its nerves. The lights in the gym itself began to flicker due to the interference of Static's highly charged attack. With a thunk, miltank fell to the ground, smoke curling from its snout.

They did it – Charlotte had successfully beaten her second gym. She slid to the ground, letting loose a heavy, relieved sigh. She was simply pleased that it was over. Athena seemed just as relieved. Static trotted over, fleece still crackling occasionally, a smug look plastered on her face.

"Well done you two," the trainer complimented, "That was amazing." She drew the sheep pokemon in for a hug, largely against her will. Charlotte noticed with surprise that her pink skin was actually leathery in texture, and didn't fill her with static electricity when she touched it. Athena nodded approvingly at Static, receiving the same movement in return.

Their moment was interrupted by a loud cry from Whitney. "That wasn't fair!" she accused. "Evolution mid-battle should be illegal! You are getting no badge from me!" Charlotte's face fell as she was filled with disappointment. She glared at the pink-haired girl. Her pokemon had put in so much effort to beat her pokemon fair and square and now she was being denied the symbol of their victory.

She returned both her pokemon to their pokeballs, stomping right up to the gym leader, avoiding the holes on the way. "No, that's not fair. My Athena is really hurt and Static actually evolved to try and beat your stupid miltank so give me my gym badge," she said as confidently and seriously as she could manage. Whitney pouted and turned away, folding her arms.

"Don't mind her, challenger," called the referee from earlier. "She always does this." Turning around, Charlotte was handed the badge she deserved. She smiled as she saw her reflection in its plain, beige surface. She thanked him for it, before reluctantly bowing to Whitney, like she had with Bugsy before unceremoniously showing herself out of the gym.

Her head was swimming with disbelief at her second gym victory.


	11. Missing

**Chapter Eleven: Missing**

It was late afternoon by the time Charlotte entered the pokemon centre a couple blocks down from the gym. She had trouble believing it took that long to beat it. She handed in her pokemon to be healed, the nurse frowning at Athena's stats as they flashed up on her monitor.

"She wouldn't let me return her," she explained guiltily. The nurse nodded and withdrew the machop's pokeball from the machine to issue specialised treatment to her injuries. Charlotte dragged herself over to the couch, slumping down with a groan. She stared absentmindedly at the television as she thought over her gym battle.

She knew she was more confident that time – a lot more confident. But she still wasn't able to command her pokemon properly – Athena outright disobeyed her by refusing to go into her pokeball before she got badly hurt. Static listened to her though, which probably meant that their plans aligned. This made her smile a little.

Sending out Sunnyside and Fang, she sat with them and watched the afternoon news, cuddling them. She couldn't help but notice that her totodile was a little upset though: his eyelids were heavy and the general joy in his eyes had faded. She wished she could understand his speech so she knew what he was upset about.

"Are you upset because you didn't get to fight?" she asked. Charlotte knew that pokemon could see through the clear tops of their pokeballs – he probably saw how hurt Athena had gotten and wanted to help out. Fang nodded slowly. She scratched underneath his chin, shaking her head.

"Alright, next time I'm sure you'll get a chance," she assured with a toothy smile. "And so will you Sunnyside!" The egg-like pokemon chirped cheerily in response, waggling his stubby arms around.

All of a sudden, there was a sharp pain in Charlotte's head as a drink can collided with her skull. She fumbled as she caught the drink, before massaging the sore on her head gingerly, wincing. A chuckle alerted her to the presence of the boy beside her. "Whoops," Gold joked. Charlotte smiled at the sight of him as excitement overtook her.

"Gold!" she exclaimed, catching him off guard. She pulled open her jacket, revealed her newest badge. "I managed to beat Whitney." He whistled.

"Nice that miltank really is a bitch isn't she?" he chuckled. Charlotte nodded before leaning over the back of the couch, keeping watch on the monitor attached to the roof of the healing station that displaying the name of the trainer whose pokemon are ready to go. She really wanted to show Gold her newest pokemon.

"Oh that egg hatched," Gold noticed, petting Sunnyside on the head, "pretty quickly actually."

"His name is Sunnyside," she smiled happily, sliding back down as she picked up and hugged the little pokemon. He clucked cheerily in response.

"Why are you still here though?" asked Charlotte out of the blue. Gold was impatient by nature – he didn't like staying in one place for too long and was always searching for new adventures. He also had a lot of responsibilities as a champion, though he didn't appreciate the work and tended to dodge it more often than not. Her query made Gold frown.

"Well I heard from a few people that the Spore Initiative has a lab here. Normally I would be like 'that's cool but why do I care' but Green called me and said they are suspicious so now I have to look into it," he explained in exasperation. "I'm going to meet up with a ranger here later so we can investigate."

Charlotte nodded, not really sure what to do with that kind of information. She told Gold that she had received her machop from them though and they seemed nice enough. He just laughed and rustled her already messy orange hair. He already knew about the machop from Green. "As the cliché goes, don't judge a book by its cover because it may look innocent but it could totally be a porno," he explained languidly. Charlotte raised her eyebrows.

"A…what?" she asked. He realised what he said and shook his head.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with yet," he sniggered.

With a ding, Charlotte's name was called out in a computerized voice. She jumped over the back of the couch and rushed to collect her pokemon, scurrying back just as quickly. She sent the both of them out, beholding them proudly in front of her friend.

"And you were scared that you wouldn't be able to be a trainer," he mocked. Charlotte looked away from him, a light blush tinting her cheeks.

Static stood on the stool in the pokecentre's bathroom, transfixed on her new form in the reflection of the mirror. Her coal-black eyes were wide in horror at the sight of her pink flesh. She felt both physically and mentally naked without the soft, warm coating of her golden wool. She petted the tufts on her head and chest, hoping that she should be able to style whatever is left. She groaned in annoyance as Charlotte positioned the showerhead over her, dousing her in water.

Charlotte hummed pleasantly as she massaged shampoo into her fleece. The sheep pokemon folded her arms, squeezing her eyes shut to avoid seeing her horrid reflection. She looked downright terrible – like a damn pidgey without its feathers.

"What's wrong Static?" asked Charlotte. The pokemon did nothing in response – like a human would understand her situation. A human would never undergo a transition that would completely change their appearance like that. Charlotte frowned. "Don't worry I'm going to make you look pretty," she determined, figuring that it was just her pokemon being vain again.

Once she had dried her and combed her fleece, Charlotte drew out a ribbon with a couple small bells attached to it that jangled pleasantly. There was a little magnet positioned in-between them, that prompted her fleece to spark as her trainer tied the ribbon around her neck.

"Fang has a type-boosting item so I figured you needed one too," she smiled.

Static inspected her reflection in the mirror once more, trying to ignore her ugly pink skin. The ribbon was certainly a nice touch – rather fashionable, in fact. She couldn't hold back a smile.

The next morning began in a panic.

Sunnyside, Fang and Athena watched as Charlotte traipsed around her rented room, throwing around pillows and blankets, occasionally a chair. She was searching frantically for something in every single nook and cranny of the room. The window was closed and the door was locked so why is her little Sunnyside missing?

Tears streamed down her face as she collapsed in the middle of the room, sobbing hysterically. Guilt and sorrow swirled around in her heart intensely enough that she felt sick to the stomach. Fang approached her, lying down on his belly so that he was at eye level with her. He clicked softly, trying to get her attention.

"I-I," she sniffled. "I've lost Sunnyside." All of her pokemon were upset by this. The little guy was a bundle of light and joy, as all togepi are, and thus was well liked by the group. To have him up and disappear was a huge loss. He did have a tendency of wandering off, but there was no way he would be able to open the window or door with his tiny stature.

"M-," she gulped back a ball of spit. "W-we should g-go see the front desk."

Charlotte threw on her clothes, too stressed to brush her hair or anything. She left Fang out of his pokeball, carrying him in her arms as she rushed down to the foyer. Since it was still rather early in the morning, there were few trainers milling about. Obviously distraught, she spoke to the nurse who said that she didn't see anyone suspicious come in or out of the pokemon centre that night.

"I did," chirped a familiar voice. A hand came down on her shoulder as she turned to meet the aqua-blue eyes and frizzy strawberry blond hair of Olivia Speckler. In a flash of nostalgia she recalled that in her favourite show, the main character helped a few people find their stolen pokemon so maybe she could help her.

"Oh hey Charlotte," she smiled. "Sorry we had to meet up again on these terms." Charlotte shook her head.

"No, I'm glad you're here, I need your help," she admitted.

"That's what I'm here for," she beamed. "I think we have the same motives too – catch the thief that has been stealing people's pokemon around Goldenrod." Her expression fell as she made some additional comments, still smiling awkwardly. "Well, I'm not exactly here for that I just got a bit side tracked and I think our thief may be linked to the Spore Initiative, _maybe_ , but…yeah."

Charlotte was about to ask why on earth she would think that those nice spore people would be thieves but she was too distracted by her desire to find her togepi that she let it slip. "Do you have any idea where the thief went?" she asked eagerly.

"Thankfully, yes. I caught, yes, actually caught, a new pokemon to help us out with tracking and everything," she explained as she pulled a minimised pokeball out. With a pop and a bark, a growlithe materialized at her feet. Its tongue lolled out if its mouth, its eyes wide and filled with childish innocence. Charlotte couldn't fight the urge to kneel down and pet it; Fang cheerily greeted the pokemon with a smile.

"Ace managed to bite the guy's leg and caught a scrap of his pants," said Olivia. "He should be able to use the scent to track him," she added as she pulled a scrap of black material out of the pocket of her shorts, allowing the puppy to get a good whiff of it. Ace barked loudly, skipping off towards the exit of the centre.

"Let's go," called Olivia as she headed off after him with Charlotte in hot pursuit.

The pair found it difficult to keep up with the agile pup as he zipped between and around the legs of the people crowding the streets. He made daring leaps across busy roads and streets that would have gotten him killed if he wasn't so tuned into his environment. He even ran through an entire mall at one point, knocking a couple of stands over and startling people with his loud barking.

Eventually, Ace came to a halt at the terminal separating Goldenrod and route 35, allowing his exhausted companions to catch up. Charlotte almost collapsed once she reached the air conditioned terminal, panting as heavily as the growlithe himself.

"Great…job," puffed Olivia as she fed the canine a treat. "So he's out on route 35 huh? Lead the way boy, slower this time." The woman briefly explained that the growlithe was wild so it would need a lot of training to reach the standard of a police dog; hence he tended to be a bit careless on the job.

Route 35 was very easy to navigate since the broad; dirt road was bordered by white picket fences. Beyond the fences lay forest and small lakes. A large cliff face ran alongside the route, on top of which grew very long grass that Charlotte would probably get lost in.

Ignoring the picket fence altogether, Ace squeezed through a gap and into the grassy forest beyond. His nose was right down to the dirt, his body tensing up. Olivia knew they were close to the culprit now.

The ground was quite muddy here and there, allowing numerous pokemon and human footprints to be seen. One particular pair of footprints seemed to stand out to Ace, prompting him to bark victoriously as he bounded off at high speeds again. Moments later, he stopped in front of a makeshift camp at the base of a large oak tree, huffing happily as he was fed another treat.

"Okay Charlotte, get your pokemon ready you may be in for a fight," whispered Olivia as she cautiously approached the tent, being sure not to step on any twigs or dry leaves that would alert its occupants of her presence. Zipping open the tent as quietly as physically possible, Olivia and Charlotte peered inside.

A young boy, around the same age as Charlotte, lay in his sleeping bag, clutching a brown and orange pokemon tightly to his chest. He had sandy brown hair that swept over his forehead. His skin was light, as if he hadn't spent much time in the sun. He had a couple of teeth missing too. Beside him were a black backpack and a small hessian sack.

"That would be the stolen pokemon," Olivia murmured, pointing to the sack.

"And they're mine," yawned the boy as he suddenly sat up, fumbling for something in his sleeping bag. He drew out a wooden fox mask, strapping it on. "Which means you guys need to get out," he said, placing a lot of emphasis on 'out.' The pokemon that he had been sleeping with uncurled, revealing the elegant figure of a vulpix. It swished its six tails angrily at the intruders.

"I'm afraid not," said Olivia sternly, her demeanour becoming serious. She and Charlotte backed away from the tent as the boy emerged, slinging his backpack on and hefting the sack of pokeballs over his shoulder. "I'm going to have to take you in. If you come without resistance and agree to give back the pokemon, they'll let you off with a lighter consequence."

The boy was having none of that. "Like I'm going to come quietly!" he scoffed. "I need this pokemon more than they do."

"You have my togepi!" shouted Charlotte, furious at the boy. He shrugged expansively.

"Yeah, so, what are you going to do about it," he challenged, mockery in his tone. "Togepi are rare and can be powerful if raised well. I stole it for myself." Folding her arms, Charlotte stepped up to him, ignoring Olivia's warnings.

"Let's have a battle then," she said. "If I win, I get my togepi back." He blew a raspberry at her.

"And then your ranger friend is going to take me in against my will right?" he said sarcastically.

"Yes, I am," she said, knitting her brows together. "So either you win against Charlotte and go free, or lose and be captured." Of course, Olivia wasn't going to let the thief go whether he won or not. Ace growled threateningly at him, though he ignored him. Charlotte set down her totodile, who immediately got into a battle stance, fully ready to fight for the custody of Sunnyside.

"Okay this is unfair but I'll win anyway," the thief boasted. "Firebrand use fire spin." Springing forth lithely, the pokemon ran loops around Fang, breathing flames all around him. The attack did little damage to him but still strung him enough to make him wince. To both his and Charlotte's surprise, the inferno remained intact even after Firebrand returned to its trainer.

"Fang, try to ignore the flames and use water gun," said Charlotte. Fang opened his jaw, letting loose a powerful blast of water that powered right through the wall of flames and into his opponent. Due to the emphasis Charlotte had placed on boosting the strength and accuracy of water gun, it managed to hit before Firebrand could dodge.

"Damn I should have used quick attack to dodge that," hissed the boy. "Never mind, we'll use it now." The vulpix sprung forth languidly once more, darting so quickly towards its opponent that it began near invisible.

"Counter with bite!" screamed Charlotte as the orange streak came close. Firebrand leapt into the swirling inferno, obscuring the creature from view. The flames completely obscured the results of the attacks, leaving the trainers in a suspenseful state. Within moments, both pokemon flew right out of the fire, skidding along the dirt and grass.

Fang had managed to bite onto Firebrand's front paw, fangs sinking in deep. It writhed in pain, trying to free itself from Fang's iron jaws, with little success. Judging from how hard the water type was panting, that quick attack had hit pretty hard – hard enough to throw him out of fire spin.

"I think we win here," scoffed Charlotte, folding her arms. She kept glancing nervously at the vulpix; hoping Fang wasn't doing any permanent damage. "You owe me my pokemon." The boy growled and tugged his hands through his hair in fury.

"Fine but you can't take me with you," he rushed. In one, swift movement, he hurled a pokeball towards Charlotte and tossed a tiny, black ball at the ground. Smoke was thrown into the air, irritating Charlotte and Olivia's lungs and eyes. Growlithe, however, was totally unaffected.

A loud squeal from the Charlotte's opponent forced her to open her eyes again. The light breeze was quick to clear the smoke, allowing her to take in what had happened. The boy had his vulpix tucked under his armpit, blood dripping down its paw. Blood was beginning to leak through his black sweatpants where Ace had bitten him. Vehement growls gurgled from both human and pokemon.

"Alright then, you're under arrest," chirped Olivia a little too enthusiastically as she swiped the sack of pokeballs from his grip while he was preoccupied trying to shake the mongrel off. She tossed the bag to Charlotte, who completely missed catching it, before clicking a pair of handcuffs onto the miscreant's wrists.

He muttered curses under his breath as Olivia began to drag him back towards Goldenrod. Charlotte soon followed, after gathering up all the pokeballs that had spilled.

The police station buzzed with activity all around the trio of trainers as they sorted out the issue of stolen pokemon. The thief sat sprawled out on his chair, arms folded, spine hunched. His face was screwed up in disgust. Clearly, he felt as though he didn't deserve this – he was just doing what he had been told. He had told the police everything after his hard earned haul was confiscated.

He had to pay every single pokeyen he owned on his fine – he had worked months to gather that money. It's not like this ordeal would teach him anything, he was too stubborn for that. Nope, he would return to being a ninja for hire, doing whatever tasks his employer wished, including thievery.

And to top it all off, he had to sit in between the jerks who brought him in.

He groaned as another police officer with a clipboard walked over, firing more questions at him. He curtly told her that he didn't know or care who gave him the mission. He briefly described what he saw of him – which wasn't much because the guy wore a lot of clothing. The thief also revealed the objective of his mission, which was to gather fifteen, trainer-raised pokemon and rendezvous with the guy who gave him the job.

"And when were you meant to meet up with this man?" asked the officer sternly.

"Five o'clock sharp this afternoon," he revealed blandly, wishing they would just leave him be now.

"I'll go rendezvous with this guy instead and bring him here," suggested Olivia, serious again as she got to her feet. The police officer nodded and lead the woman away to speak further about the details of the meet up and the implications it had.

Over her shoulder, the officer called. "By the way, Mamoru Nakano, you are free to go. If you are caught stealing or breaking the law again you will be taken to court," she threatened. The boy's cheeks burned pink.

"My name is _Kit_ and I want my damn mask back!" he yelled. Charlotte sighed heavily, watching as he strapped the mask back onto his face, assuring that the buckle was tight enough so that there was no danger of it slipping off. He then got up abruptly, heading towards the door. Lurching forward, Charlotte caught the back of his singlet.

"What?" he snapped, slapped her hand away. Genuinely hurt, the girl frowned.

"You don't have any money now right?" she asked. He hesitantly nodded. His stomach growled in response, making him wince. "Well, I can buy some food for you and your pokemon?" She suggested, to his surprise.

"W-why?" he said defensively. "I stole your pokemon. I'm in my pyjamas. And I wouldn't pay you back anyway because I don't care!" Charlotte backed away a little, rubbing her hands together awkwardly, she looked at her feet as she continued to speak, feeling threatened by him.

"Y-yeah but you honoured our agreement by g-giving my togepi back. You could have tried to run away with it like you did with the rest of the pokeballs," she explained. Kit simply couldn't believe his ears. She was right, but she was still a complete idiot. His stomach growled again, throwing him into a personal dilemma. "And I don't want to see anyone go hungry," she muttered, almost so quietly he couldn't hear her.

"I mean, it's not like I'm not angry at you, I am," she said, sternly. "But I live by the code of my favourite television character – treat people as you would like to be treated."

Kit's mouth dropped open, though she couldn't see it behind his mask. He stood there, gaping in dumb shock for a little while at the pure naivety and gullibility of this carrot-head girl. Another growl from his stomach, however, was enough to tide him over.

"Fine," he huffed, stomping out of the police office. He was going to find the most expensive joint on this street and she was going to pay for his kingly meal.

Charlotte was surprised to find out that Kit was a ninja.

She hadn't fully realised it until he had changed in the restaurant's bathroom, coming out wearing a kimono-like shirt with short sleeves and a pair of hakama tucked into the bindings wrapped around his legs. The only things that didn't look the part were his blue sneakers and knitted dark blue scarf.

Once he sat down, he sent out his vulpix, which appeared to be his only pokemon. Charlotte made sure to keep all her pokemon safely clicked into her belt – she didn't want him to suddenly grab one and make a run for it. Calling the waitress over, Kit proceeded to order at least five things, before leaning back and smirking at Charlotte.

"Food is expensive here I wonder how much money you'll lose," he teased. Charlotte furrowed her brow as she took out her purse, inspecting the various compartments.

"Well, I have 10,000 pokeyen and the things you ordered stack up to 5,000 so I'll still have money for other things," she said with a satisfied smile. Kit sighed and pressed his mask into his hands – this time he was the idiot; he had no idea she had that much money. He wondered where she even got all that from.

He glared at her through the slits in his mask as he was delivered his meal. He noticed her shuffled uncomfortably under his gaze, to which he smirked. He broke his stare once he began to eat his pile of food though, ravenously, like he hadn't eaten for days. Well, he actually hadn't eaten for days.

"Wow…uh," Charlotte began as a couple of wayward crumbs hit her in the face. "When was the last time you a-ate?" He unclasped his mask, throwing it aside so that it was easier for him to shovel spoonfuls of ice-cream and pancake into his mouth. He made some gross slurping sounds as he swallowed a huge mouthful, almost choking.

"Three days," he answered curtly. "Firebrand ate yesterday." That would explain his hunger and his pokemon's tidier table manners. Firebrand cast side glances at her trainer every now and then as she ate her bowl of pokemon food, occasionally dodging discarded food scraps. People sitting around them were beginning to stare. Charlotte slipped further down the chair, the back of the booth hiding her head.

"K-Kit can you eat a b-bit neater?" she asked coyly. Kit shook his head. "O-okay…"

"Where do you get all that money from?" he asked with his mouth full.

"Battling," Charlotte replied, sounding surprised. "Don't you do battling yourself?" Kit shrugged, shaking his head. His eyes met hers, causing her to blush. She didn't realise how expressive and deep those midnight blue eyes were. They were beautiful. She looked away, feeling incredibly shy.

"Sometimes I do but I never get much money from it," he said. "Since I always have to give money to people when they beat me which sucks," he added vehemently.

"Yeah I lose sometimes too," Charlotte sighed solemnly. "And it hurts. The reason I have all this money is because I spent three days training on route 34 – I fought a lot of trainers."

"I guess I'm going to have to start doing that," Kit muttered to himself. "I can't make the kind of money I need off jobs alone." He shoved his empty plates and bowls aside, resting his face on the table. He moaned softly in irritancy. Firebrand trotted over to him, licking and nudging his cheek.

"Why is money so important to you?" asked Charlotte, curious.

"Ninjas don't give away their secrets, dummy," he said into the grain of the table, "because they are stealthy and loyal to their masters."

"Ninjas don't steal," huffed Charlotte, folding her arms. "There are better ways to make money."

"Not better, just harder," he argued, lifting his head up to scowl at her. "And I know plenty of ninjas who steal," he refuted. He couldn't think of any off the top of his head but he was sure there were some. "Not all people have to be good. The world would be boring if everyone was a goody-two-shoe." Frowning, Charlotte simply stared at him, watching his downcast eyes as he traced patterns in the table.

She was still bitter about him stealing her pokemon but she was not the kind to hold grudges for long. She didn't know why this boy needed so much money – for all she knew, he could need it to cause more evil but she couldn't be sure of that. She didn't trust him at all and that made her uncomfortable.

But she wanted to help – she always wants to help. Anyone and everyone is worthy of being helped, except, of course, those who are evil right down to the core or just want to use her services for no good. Kit was not truly evil, just a little misaligned, she hoped.

"M-maybe…," she began. She would have gone back on her words if she had not already opened her mouth, "I can help you get the money you need." Kit seemed shocked by this, eyes widening to the size of saucers. Charlotte noticed the grey bags beneath them, indicating his lack of sleep. Already regretting her decision, the girl smiled meekly.

"I-I," he stammered, unsure what to make of this. He seemed conflicted for a few moments before scooping up his bag and his vulpix. "Ninjas don't need anyone," he muttered hesitantly. Shimmying out of the booth, he stomped towards the exit to the restaurant, not looking back as he headed off down the street. Charlotte was almost relieved; though she felt bad she couldn't help him.

Maybe she couldn't only help him earn money, but help him be a better person? Well, it was too late now. She sighed heavily as the waitress returned to her table and handed her the bill.


	12. Rivals

**Chapter Twelve: Rivals**

Sporting was never Charlotte's thing, so her usual enthusiasm was somewhat lacking as she entered the expansive dome.

Opened mouthed, she stared around at the vibrant, flashing neon lights that decorated every inch of space. The place was abuzz with humans and their pokemon – many of which being practiced athletes. There were banners hanging from the ceiling advertising the various competitions they had available, and promoting the reason Charlotte had come here.

The prizes were brilliant – they even offered evolutionary stones. Of course, Charlotte had no idea whether her pokemon needed evolution stones to evolve or not but that didn't matter to her – those rocks were pretty and valuable. They also offered a cash prize for the top three contenders but that was of less importance to her.

Feeling nervous, she fetched a soda pop for herself. She had never actively participated in sport before which was pretty much a requirement for participation in the pokeathlon. She leant against the back wall, wondering if this was really worth it. She took a few sips of her drink, only to nearly spit it out as she saw a familiar boy walk up to the front desk.

It was Kit. She wondered what a guy like him would be doing here. Then she remembered how much that boy liked money – he was definitely here for the 10,000 pokeyen prize for winning first place. He was wearing the same things he wore yesterday, save for a blue sports jersey instead of his kimono. He looked a little silly, if Charlotte was honest.

What caught her eye though was the hoothoot perched upon his shoulder. She wondered if that was another stolen pokemon of his and that he had learnt nothing from yesterday. She downed the rest of her soda before pursing her lips and bashfully approaching him. Her head told her that this was silly and uncalled for and that she really shouldn't be talking to him again but she did anyway.

"Kit!" she called shakily. His head snapped towards her. He was wearing his mask, but Charlotte had the feeling that he was scowling at her.

"You again?" he groaned. "What are you here for money too? You don't look like you could last a minute in there with your tiny body." Charlotte winced at his insult – she knew she was small and lacked muscle; she didn't need to be reminded.

"I'm here for the pretty rocks," she muttered. He asked her to repeat herself since the noise in the dome was much too loud for someone with her soft voice. She spoke up again, louder, though she stuttered that time.

"That's stupid," he grunted.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask about that hootho-," she began, before being interrupted by him.

"She's not stolen. Her name is Nyx. I caught her on route 35, leave me alone," he answered gruffly. Charlotte was about to object when she thought better of it – that owl's wide-eyed gaze was making her uncomfortable. Instead, she looked down at the form that Kit was filling out.

"Oh, that's the speed cup," she commented. "I was thinking of doing that one."

"If you do," he said as he hesitantly wrote up his real name, grimacing at it. "I'll beat you with both me and my pokemon's arms behind our backs." He was probably right. With Kit as a fellow competitor, she wanted to enter the pokeathlon even less – it was a guaranteed loss for her. Then again, she supposed it wouldn't be a total loss – every player receives points for participating. If she was lucky, she would get enough to be able to get one of the stones from the shop there.

Even though that sounded promising, she was about to decide it wasn't worth the risk when the receptionist addressed her, asking if she was planning on signing up with her friend. Charlotte would have corrected her if she hadn't been startled by the sudden confrontation.

"Uh-uh," she stammered. "S-sure, I guess," she said, regretting her decision as a piece of paper was slid in front of her along with a pen. Shaking, she filled out the form.

The first event was known as hurdle dash. It was a pretty basic event – all it involved was running alongside your chosen pokemon for the event and jumping over hurdles together. Charlotte was filled with more and more dread as she stood in front of the white line.

The stadium was packed with people who could see her fail. Her opponents were all fit and capable – Kit was a ninja for Arceus's sake. She looked down at Sunnyside, who didn't seem bothered at all. He felt her gaze, looking up at her and chirping cheerily. She smiled at him but even his cheeriness failed to help her now.

Kit smirked beneath his mask as he observed how anxious Charlotte was beside him. He poked her shoulder, prompting her to jump to the side a little bit. "Relax," he said mockingly. Charlotte's stomach began to flip, her heart pounding anxiety and adrenaline throughout her body, as she watched the referee take his place at the side of the course, raising the whistle to his lips.

"On your marks," he began. The other competitors tensed up, getting into position. Charlotte followed suit, not wanting to be the odd one out. She aimlessly told her pokemon to get ready – Sunnyside was ready for anything, she was the one who wasn't ready.

"Get set," he continued. Kit gave one last look at his rival, wondering how far she will be left back in the dust. He hoped she tripped over one of the hurdles – that would be hilarious. Strix was fluttering her wings, face set in determination. He caught her knowing that she would be able to fly over those hurdles with ease. He had this in the bag.

"Go!" bellowed the referee. All at once, all four competitors shot out onto the track, their pokemon at their sides. Charlotte found herself running before she knew what she was doing. Sunnyside skipped happily along some distance in front of her. Kit was ages away from her in moments, along with the others. Desperately not wanting to fall behind, Charlotte pushed herself to go faster.

She could hear the announcers shouting their commentary on the event, melding with the screaming of the audience. Her lungs screamed for air, tears in her eyes. She had managed to catch up to her happy-go-lucky pokemon, jumping over numerous hurdles along the way. Due to her short stature, she was barely able to get her legs over it.

The race seemed to stretch on and on, with no clear end, until she finally spotted the flags at the end of the course. Her heart soared with relief – it was nearly over.

That relief was soon shattered when she found herself colliding with the hard ground. Her hands came up before she hit her face, stinging as she scrapped her palms, elbows and knees. She yelped out in pain as shakily pushed herself to her feet, slowly. Sunnyside noticed her accident, running over and chirping urgently at her to continue.

Kit witnessed her fall from the finish line, laughing at her misfortune. However, he quickly stopped laughing once he noticed the blood on her hands and knees, feeling a little guilty. He huffed and turned away from her, focusing his anger on the guy who had beaten him instead.

Charlotte ended up jogging to the finish line, rather than sprint the rest of the way. She was already last, after all, and her lungs and heart were burning painfully, her muscles incapable of making the shift between walking and sprinting again. The referee congratulated her once she crossed the finish line with her pokemon, asking her to come to the side so she could receive medical care.

Kit sauntered over to her as she was receiving Band-Aids for her grazes. She frowned at him. "Told you so," he scoffed. His owl pokemon hooted in an almost mocking tone. Charlotte looked away from him, eyes downcast. She didn't need her loss rubbed into her face. Kit rolled his eyes.

"You know, that togepi did well though. He's faster than I would have thought. Maybe you should stop focusing on yourself and on working with you pokemon to win. Not that you'd win though." His words had come out grudgingly and awkwardly – he didn't even know why he was saying anything. Charlotte didn't reply.

"Be like that then, I don't care," Kit huffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he turned away from her, heading towards the exit to the stadium.

During the break between events, Charlotte tried her best to psych herself up for her next ordeal. She complimented Sunnyside extensively on his prowess – he was ahead of her the whole time. She leaned back in the sofa's plush cushions, gulping down her bottle of cold water. Her pokemon did the same, though a little messier.

She supposed Kit was right – there was no team work between her and Sunnyside. She had thought there was no room for it, considering that it was simply a race to the end of the track, but maybe it was what she was lacking. She resolved to make more of an effort in keeping up and helping her pokemon in the next event.

She looked to Fang, smiling at him as warmly as she could. He wagged his tail and grinned back. He wasn't the fastest pokemon, but Static had adamantly refused to take place in the competition, thus leaving her with either Fang or Athena for her second event.

"Hey, uh, Carrot," called Kit as he came up to her. She raised her eyebrows. Why was he approaching her again? He had already mocked her for her defeat. She couldn't see his face through that mask – she had no idea what he wanted. "I need a favour."

"Why would I help you?" she asked. "You're kind of a jerk," she said honestly, feeling bad for calling him that. It was true though – he was mean.

"That asshole Xavier is using a sandslash in the next round. You have your totodile," he began, pointing at Fang. "We're allowed to use pokemon moves so I think it would benefit us both for you to fight it off." Charlotte recalled that Xavier was the name of the guy who had come first, Kit managing to finish just after he did. She could understand why Kit was angry with him, but she wanted no part in sabotaging someone.

Then again, if her actions managed to put him last, than that meant she would be third. She tilted her head to the side, giving Kit a sceptical look.

"Isn't that cheating?" she asked. Kit shook his head.

"Nope, I heard the chick who came third in the last round talking about doing the same thing to my nidoran with her stupid abra but I'm not going to let her," he explained nonchalantly. "Look, I'll probably put her down too, so that would boost you to second place." Second place did sound very promising, but Charlotte still felt as though what she was doing wasn't quite right, she simply couldn't trust a thief like Kit.

"I-I'll uh…think about it?" Charlotte replied vaguely. Kit shrugged as he began to walk away. He hated that girl's kind-heartedness – it was like she thought winning itself was bad because she would have to beat people to do it.

"Whatever, I could easily win without your help anyway," he boasted. How dare she refuse his offer – did she realise how humiliating it was for a guy such as himself to ask someone he disliked for help? He growled in anger as he stalked off.

Charlotte watched him leave, drinking contemplatively from her cold water. She supposed that as long as using pokemon moves in this round was allowed, her actions would not technically be wrong – it would be just like a pokemon battle.

The announcer confirmed that pokemon moves were allowed in pennant capture, easing a sigh of relief in Charlotte. Fang grinned vivaciously at the prospect, narrowing his eyes at Xavier's sandslash. Charlotte eyed off the athlete, feeling uneasy at the sight of his bulging muscles – that guy could snap her like a twig.

Gulping back a ball of sweat, Charlotte shuddering with anticipation as the referee went through the familiar start up phrases.

"Go!" he shouted finally. Charlotte and Fang made a break for the nearest pennant, only to collide with the girl Kit had mentioned – Melody, she believed her name was. Gritting her teeth, the girl commanded her abra to use confusion to ward Fang off.

"Fang use water gun," Charlotte commanded swiftly as she grabbed the pennant before Melody could. Unfortunately, abra was too fast for Fang, and he received the brunt of the mystic attack, growling in pain as psychic energy radiated through his brain. Melody smirked in victory and was about to snatch the pennant from Charlotte when it was torn by her hand by the claws of a sandslash.

It had managed to dig a hole in the sandy arena, enabling it to surprise opponents from down below. Xavier chuckled mockingly as he dashed past as swiftly as a rapidash, retrieving the pennant from his pokemon and adding it to his steadily growing collection.

Frustrated, Charlotte sprinted in an opposite direction to them both, managing to gather three pennants before she was confronted by that sandslash again. It struck out at the trainer and her pokemon, causing the both of them to tumble over backwards in the sand, Charlotte dropping the little flags. Fang was quick to scoop them up his jaw, only to be hit by a tackle attack from sandslash.

Fortunately, he still had a good grip on the pennants. Charlotte quickly retrieved them from him as Xavier ran over, shouting at his pokemon to use dig. Spotting some more pennants on the opposite side of the sandy arena, Charlotte scooped Fang up and sprinted over as fast as she could, hoping that she would be able to avoid sandslash's dig attack that way.

She had just managed to grab a couple more before she felt the ground shift beneath her, causing her to topple over. This time, she didn't drop her pennants. An idea came quickly to her – if sandslash was able to use the ground itself as an advantage, so was she.

"Fang use water gun on the sand!" she called. Fang aimed his snout at the roof of the stadium, letting loose a plume of water. It rained down on the field below, saturating the sand and damaging sandslash simultaneously. Xavier cursed, knowing that he would now be unable to use the ground to his advantage – there was no way his sandslash would dig through wet sand.

"I'll take these, sucker," chuckled Kit as he raced past with his nidoran, managing to pull several pennants out of Xavier's strong grip before dashing off again. Enraged, the athlete beckoned to his sandshrew as he gave chase to Kit.

Relieved that he was off her back, Charlotte got to work gathering some more pennants. Fang managed to fend off any other attacks by Melody, whose abra was looking pretty worse for wear. Charlotte assumed that somehow Kit's nidoran had done some damage, despite its weakness to psychic attacks.

Unfortunately, before Charlotte could gather a significant amount of pennants, time ran out. She looked up at the massive screen at the back of the stadium as it flashed zero. She sighed heavily, sinking to the soft sand. She wiped sweat from her brow, panting heavily. That wasn't nearly as bad as the first event.

Counting her pennants, she discovered she had seventeen, which wasn't bad at all since it put her in third place, above Melody. This time, Kit managed to beat Xavier, though it was only by a single pennant. She heard the muscular athlete growling about how a little kid had beaten him as they headed towards the stadium's exit once more.

Charlotte was relieved that the second round was over – there was just one round left before she could be done with pokeathlon, hopefully forever.

Kit spoke to her again during her break. He even sat down on the sofa beside her, prompting Charlotte to move to opposite side of it in surprise. He exhaled loudly as he stroked his vulpix which he obviously plans to use in the final event.

"So you agreed to help," he chuckled. "A little, I guess. Barely even anything. I'm actually kind of disappointed but I won anyway so it doesn't matter." Charlotte nodded slowly, wondering what he wanted of her this time.

"Next round we can't use pokemon moves but I think that's dumb," he commented. "Are you using a fighting type next?" Charlotte told him she was planning to use her machop. He grinned broadly under his mask. "Melody is using all normal type pokemon, you could probably beat it up a-," Charlotte shook her head.

"No, that is _actually_ cheating," she said. "I'm not helping you this time."

"I thought you liked helping people," complained Kit, frustrated by this girl's lack of integrity. It wasn't like she was committing some grave evil like murder or tax evasion. Kit folded his arms. He had already told her that if she did as he told her, she would have a greater chance of winning – he had already boosted her to third place.

"Y-yes," stammered Charlotte. "But I'm not going to help people do the wrong thing." Kit promptly got to his feet, causing Firebrand to tumble off his lap.

"Be that way, geez, do you actually want to win?" he said, raising his voice. Charlotte shook her head, furrowing her brow at his impatience.

"N-no, I just want enough points to b-buy a pretty rock," she replied, her voice softer than she had been intending as she heard an irritated cry from the boy.

"You're so stupid!" he exclaimed as he stalked away once more, Firebrand at his heels. Hurt by his insult, the girl drew her legs up onto the couch. She just couldn't understand what his problem was. She knew the money was important to him but he could at least be a bit nicer to his fellow competitors.

Maybe she should show him a lesson.

Relay run was similar to hurdle dash, though it provided different and often more difficult obstacles. Also, all three of Charlotte's pokemon were to be involved. Her pokemon was to hold a baton and, once they had returned to the starting line again, pass it to the next pokemon in line.

Charlotte tried her hardest to keep up with Kit, but he was simply too agile and quick for her, not to mention that the girl kept tripping up on the rocks or slipping down the climbing obstacles. She knew she was going to be last for sure, which didn't help her attitude.

Her pokemon encouraged her, however. Before Charlotte had even reached the end of the first lap, she had begun to help her pokemon get over obstacles they were struggling with themselves and in return, they helped her. Sunnyside's stubby hands were useless for climbing, so Charlotte would carry him. Fang's speed was lacking, so he and Charlotte both had to push themselves to move faster.

Before Charlotte knew it, she was on the third lap. Athena appeared to have no difficulty with the obstacles, getting over each one with ease and aiding Charlotte if she was struggling. She was climbing over a large boulder at one point, when she noticed Kit tripping over Melody some distance ahead of her.

Clambering over the rock, she rushed over to Melody who was clutching at her ankle. Her clefairy pranced around her in a panic, waggling its fingers.

"Are you okay?" gushed Charlotte as she bent down.

"Of course not," groaned the girl. A couple meters ahead, Kit called out to Charlotte.

"Just leave her, this is your chance," he shouted hurriedly, not stopping for a moment.

"Yeah, I'll be fine the medics will be over in a moment. I won't be able to go back in like this anyway," Melody reassured firmly, locking eyes with her. "Go catch up to the ninja kid. He needs to be shown up." She smiled weakly, though frustration and jealously was plainly evident in her eyes. Charlotte was unable to see this as she got to her feet again, sprinting off as fast as her feet could allow her, Athena a few paces in front of her.

Reaching out her hand, Athena grabbed it, allowing Charlotte to move just as quickly as her machop. Noticing that Kit and his vulpix were slowing down, she ignored the screaming pain in her lungs and put in the extra effort, managing to get close enough to him for them to talk.

"No way," Kit snarled. "I must be slowing down," he panted. Charlotte could tell how tired he was – he could barely speak. Kit knew he was at his limit and that frustrated him to no end – he should be stronger than this, faster than this. He was not about to let himself fall behind again, but he simply couldn't move any faster – he was going to have to settle for second place.

But he couldn't be second if Charlotte was a step ahead of him. In one movement, he pushed at Charlotte's shoulder with all his might, causing her to scream as she fell into a nearby patch of rocky ground. The pain was even worse than when she fell over in the first event, tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. Athena crouched down to her side, helping her to get to her feet.

She glowered at Kit, expecting him to be way ahead of her.

Instead, he was hovering right where he was, staring at her. There was a long moment where they just stared at one another, Charlotte becoming more confused and angry with him by the moment.

"Just go, Kit! You beat me!" she shouted, deeply hurt by his actions. She heard raucous cheers from the crowd, indicating that Xavier had one. Swearing, Kit turned away from her, sprinting as fast as he could towards the finish line. Charlotte emitted a juddering sigh as she held Athena's hand.

"Come on, let's be third, I guess," she sighed.

The overall results placed Melody last, Charlotte third, Kit second and Xavier first. Honestly, Charlotte was pretty pleased with her and her pokemon's performance. Her pokemon were great as always, of course, it was their trainer who let them down as always. If she was more in shape, she would have performed better.

But at the end of the day, what place she came didn't matter too much to Charlotte. What lingered was her anger for Kit, and the points she had earned. Grabbing another soda, she stepped up to the store's counter, looking over the prices for the various stones.

To her dismay, she didn't have nearly enough points for any of them. Lowering her eyes, she dragged her feet towards a nearby chair, slumping down. That meant that this entire thing was pointless – she got nothing out of it other than bruises, grazes and cuts of both the physical and emotional kind. She barely even worked with her pokemon! She was never coming back here again.

She threw her half empty can in the nearby trash can as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing. She was so tired of being weak, so tired of crying like this. That tournament only proved how weak she was, how much training of the brain and body she had to undergo in order to actually make it in the world.

"H-hey," said a voice she didn't want to hear.

"Go away, Kit," she sobbed. "You hurt me you…you-."

"Asshole, I know," he sighed reluctantly, sitting down beside her. Charlotte tensed up, half expecting him to just start insulting her or trying to talk her into something again. She looked up from her hands to find him staring at her through the slits in his mask. She was surprised to see him reach up and remove his mask, looking at her with his real eyes.

She was even more surprised to see the regret and pain in his eyes.

"I…probably would have come second without pushing you," he admitted. "But there were just a few moments where you were ahead of me and I just…I needed the money," Charlotte interrupted him by shoving his shoulder like he had done to her, though she was much weaker than him.

"I don't care about the money!" she yelled. "You didn't _need_ to push me."

There were a few moments of silence between them, Kit looking away from her. When he returned his gaze to her, his eyes were bloodshot, like he had been rubbing his eyes. He knew what he did was wrong but she didn't need to make such a big deal about it – she wasn't _that_ hurt. "I'm sorry, okay?" he uttered, like it was the hardest thing to say.

Charlotte's eyes widened, as she opened and closed her mouth. However, her glare quickly returned – for whatever reason, she hadn't been expecting an apology from him. Kit could tell that she still wasn't buying it, even though his tone was genuine. He lowered his head as he dug around in his pocket.

"Look, I got you one of those rocks you like," he said, holding it out to her. She was about to claim that she didn't want it, but that pretty rock was exactly the reason she was here. She stared at it blankly for a few moments. The stone was smooth, milky and translucent. Within its core, glittered a golden light reminiscent of the sun. She took it, their hands briefly brushing together.

Kit was about to get up and leave this girl and her frustrating nature behind when she grabbed the back of his jersey. "Apology accepted," she muttered, her watery blue green eyes meeting the midnight hues of his. "You don't have to be so mean, you know?"

"I know," he sighed. "It's just…easier I guess. And ninjas are meant to be, you know, cold and stoic and stuff so…"

"Not like that though," she said. "I-I don't know much about ninjas, but I remember there was this one from this movie I watched who was all stoic and loyal but he wasn't mean. He was honour-bond." Wide-eyed, Kit nodded. Charlotte let go of him, clutching at her jacket nervously.

"I am who I am, Carrot," he frowned. "I can't be the good-two-shoe you are. I don't want to be like you – being me is way more fun."

"I-I know…" she trailed off, not sure what to say to make any good of this situation. Truthfully, she wasn't _that_ angry with him. He had pushed her, but it hurt more emotionally than physically. She was beginning to think that what he did wasn't really that bad – that perhaps, he just needed that money for a good cause, like he said.

"I just want to help you, like I said I would back at that restaurant. I thought that maybe along the way I could teach you that you don't have to be mean to get what you want. But I don't know, Kit. I don't like you very much. I don't even know if you're tell the truth about the whole 'good cause' thing."

Another awkward silence passed before Kit spoke up. He knew he was probably going to regret what he was about to say. He didn't like that girl – she was annoying and too good for her own wellbeing. But maybe she would actually be able to help him get the money he needed. And maybe, along the way, instead of her making him into a goody-two-shoe, he could teach her to be a little cooler.

But he knew she wouldn't agree to anything unless he told her why he needed the money. He looked her dead in the eyes as he spoke.

"There is a dojo in Kanto that trains people to be real ninjas," he began with an inspired sparkle in his eyes. "I want to go there, but my family doesn't have enough money to pay the fees because of dad's bad business decisions. Mum's pregnant and they need to use lots of money to provide for the baby." Charlotte nodded in understanding, smiling at the mention of a baby – Kit was going to be a big brother soon. She couldn't help but wish she had a sibling.

Kit wrinkled up his nose in annoyance. "So my dad told me if I was going to be a man one day I had to make my own money and pay for my own schooling. That's why I'm so desperate for money," he explained. "Do you understand now?" Charlotte nodded once again, this time more enthusiastically. She smiled warmly at him, causing him to look away in discomfort.

"That makes lots of sense," she said. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"I told you – ninjas are supposed to be good at keeping secrets!" he yelled in frustration. Charlotte shook her head.

"That's not a secret, Kit," she pointed out. "Just like the reason for my journey isn't a secret – I want to go to ranger school but my mum won't let me until I prove myself as a trainer." Kit had no idea that their goals were so similar. He wiped the surprise off his face, the corner of his lips quirking in a brief smile.

"Truce?" he asked.

"Truce," replied Charlotte, beaming. "I guess we are travel buddies now, right?"

Kit groaned. "Yeah I guess. Our travelling arrangements don't make us friends though." With practiced ease, he strapped his expressionless mask back on again. Frankly, Charlotte thought he looked much better without it on – those eyes of his were really something otherworldly.

"O-of course not, we are more like r-rivals than anything," she complied. It felt oddly foreign to use such a word – a word that Gold had often used to describe Silver, a word that many young trainers use to describe their travel buddies and friends. It was about time she got herself a rival – and she was overwhelmed with joy at the prospect.

"Oh, by the way, what's your name again?" he asked, realising that they hadn't formerly introduced themselves to one another yet.

"Charlotte Evergreen," she chirped.


	13. Suspicion

**Chapter Thirteen: Suspicion**

"Are you sure that nidoran isn't stolen?" asked Charlotte for the third time as she eyed off the small, purple rodent hitching a ride on Kit's shoulder. She couldn't see his face but she knew he was rolling his eyes. He sighed heavily.

"His name is Nightshade. I caught him with a premier ball I found in a trash can what more do you want to hear?" he answered impatiently. The girl nodded, finally satisfied with his answer. She smiled at the creature who twitched his nose curiously in response.

Currently, the pair was headed towards National Park, where Charlotte had planned to spend the next couple days training and preparing her and her pokemon for the Ecruteak gym. Kit was hostile towards the idea but he was eventually convinced to stay when Charlotte promised to give half of her battle winnings to him.

Hand wrapped around Fang's paw, they swung their arms happily. Kit kept a metre distance from the two, hoping that people wouldn't associate him with them. A chilly gust of wind tugged at his clothes, causing his travelling companion to shiver and zip up her coat.

The tempest whipped up the scent of flowers and freshly cut grass as they entered the park. The place wasn't too busy, considering how early in the day it was, but the odd child could be seen playing about in the fountains, or trawling through the tall grass and flower fields in search of pokemon. The pair passed by the sprawling fountain in the centre of the park, heading towards a field of tall grass.

They stood their awkwardly for a few moments, not sure whether they should train with each other or go off on their own like normal. They chose the latter. Wordlessly, Kit stepped away from Charlotte and towards another patch of grass.

"U-uh, okay!" called the girl after him. "We'll meet up at the fountain at midday!" Kit shrugged and kept walking – he'll show up if and when he wanted to and if he did, it was only for the money she had promised him. Spotting a trainer rummaging about in the grass, Kit smirked, ready to show that guy who was boss.

Charlotte, on the other hand, chose to get some practice on wild pokemon first. She knelt down to Fang, smiling at him as she pet his head. "You're going to evolve soon so we'll start with you first," she pointed out. The water type nodded determinedly – he had been jealous of Static ever since she evolved so he was desperate to catch up.

Spying a sunkern sunning itself on a nearby rock, Charlotte dropped onto her hands and knees, crawling into the tall grass, immersing herself in a sea of green. "Fang, use water gun," she whispered as her pokemon readied his attack.

By exactly 12:00, Charlotte skipped back to the central fountain. Sitting down on the edge, she gazed into the mirror-like surface of the water, her complexion staring right back at her. Frowning, she tactlessly tried to smooth down her chunks of tangled locks, before wiping some mud off her face.

Suddenly, a plume of water met with her face, causing her to stumble backwards and fall from her seat. Confused, she got up, only to see that it was just Fang messing about in the fountain. She giggled in relief. The little guy had only one more level to go before he evolves – this was probably the last day she would see him as a totodile.

She stared at him long and hard, assuring that she memorised every little detail about him, not wanting to forget how he looked. She would never forget how big his fangs were to his jaw, or how he walked funny, since his head was so heavy.

She tapped her finger on the water, creating little ripples, attracting Fang to where she was. He took his hand in his jaws, nibbling on her fingers as gently as he could manage. However, his bite quickly turned harsh as a scream rang through the air. Startled by both the pain in her hand and the scream, she shook Fang off and snapped her head in the direction of the sound, clutching her hand.

All was eerily silent for a moment, save for the whistling of wind through the grass, until she heard the crashing of approaching footsteps. Plucking Fang from the fountain, she held him close, ready to flee at the sight of danger. Her muscles locked into place as her wide eyes focused on the direction of the sound.

The tall grass rustled violently as the figure of a gargantuan pinsir appeared. Its eyes seemed to glimmer red with rage as it clacked its razor sharp pincers together. It ground its teeth hard enough for the sound to be heard, scaring the living daylights out of Charlotte.

There was another scream as a smaller figure dashed out of the grass and right into Charlotte. The two toppled over with startled cries. Regaining her senses, Charlotte got to her feet, only to find Kit staring right at her through the eyes of his expressionless mask.

"It tried to freaking kill me!" he yelled. "And Nightshade – it slashed him right open!" Charlotte noticed the limp body of a nidorino in his arms, along with the blood that covered its leathery skin. Suddenly feeling nauseous, she noticed the shimmer of blood in Kit's kimono too. He whipped around as the footsteps got closer, along with the high-pitched, animalistic screaming of the pinsir.

"Firebrand and Nyx are going to murder this piece of shit," he growled with a voice shuddering with rage – he sounded about as mad as the pokemon he was about to fight. Carefully, he placed Nightshade on the edge of the fountain. "If you don't give him medical care, he'll die," he said grimly. "So hurry up." Unfreezing from her state of horror, Charlotte turned to the bleeding pokemon.

"Fang, give Kit a hand, okay?" she said desperately – she didn't want this situation to get any worse. Fang eyed off the approaching beast, looking concerned. Nevertheless, he shook his head and nodded – he had two pokemon as back up – this pinsir was going down.

Taking her eyes off the battle behind her, Charlotte rapidly rummaged around in her bag for the items necessary for a situation like this. She drew out some stitches, some clean cloths, bandages, and a super potion. She knew little about medicine, but she hoped this would do for now.

Using the water from the fountain, she dampened the cloth and cleaned around the wound as carefully as possible. She knew that nidorino were extremely poisonous but it was only their barbs that needed to be avoided at all costs.

Once all the slippery blood was cleaned up, she began carefully threading together the split walls of flesh, if not a little clumsily. She noticed Nightshade wince at the pain, causing her to flinch for a moment, hoping she wasn't causing him too much additional pain.

She hoped that she was doing the stitching right – she had never done anything like it before. The closest thing she had for experience was watching her mother stitch up her knee when she split it open on a rock while playing with her friends.

By the time the stitches were complete; she cleaned the wound again, placed another clean cloth over it, and began to wrap Nightshade in bandages. Every once in a while she would glance up at the battle upon hearing the sound of cries and screams and the impacts of attacks. Fortunately, it seemed as though Kit and Fang were winning – he did have the advantage after all.

Finally, the bug type crashed to the ground, its hard chitin dinted and burnt in places. Without hesitation, Kit returned Firebrand and Nyx and rushed over to Nightshade with Fang at his heals. Kit eased the poison type back into his arms, assuring to avoid getting pricked by his barbs.

Meanwhile, Charlotte noticed all the blood she had gotten onto herself, watching in glimmer in midday sun. Another swell of nausea hit her, prompting her to run away from Kit and Fang to a nearby patch of grass, where she threw up.

"Gross, really? It's just blood, doofus,"criticised Kit. Ashamed and embarrassed, Charlotte wiped the bile off her lips and returned to the group, taking Fang back up into her arms. He looked like he had taken a beating, but he wasn't too injured. He grinned somewhat weakly at his trainer, who noticed he now had one of his prize fangs missing. She frowned at this.

"Hey, you kids!" called a voice from behind them. The pair turned around just as a very tall man approached the unconscious body of the rampaging pinsir. He bent down to it, tutting his tongue. "I suppose I should thank you – she would have caused much more damage if you hadn't put her down." With a flourish, he pulled a needle from his pocket, injecting its mysterious contents into the soft flesh between the chitin plates of the pinsir.

With that, he withdrew the pokemon and stood to attention in front of the two children.

"My name is Monroe Augustine," he introduced with a curt bow. "And that sorry fellow was my pokemon – please accept my apologies," he laughed without a hint of actual sympathy. Charlotte could feel Kit physically tense up beside her as she studied the man's appearance.

His complexion was a striking hodgepodge of colours that caught the young trainer's eye immediately. His hair was a shock of curly red locks that looked like they hadn't seen a brush in years. The colour clashed with the amber gaze behind his thick goggles. He scratched at some kind of rash on his right cheek that tainted his dark skin.

His clothing consisted of a red plaid t-shirt, an off-white lab coat that had been patched with swabs of cloth of all colours of the rainbow, a pair of stripped, white and blue boxer shorts, complete with a pair of normal sneakers.

"A-apology accepted," Charlotte said, flustered by his lack of pants.

"Where are your pants?" asked Kit, sounding uncomfortable. Monroe laughed humourlessly again.

"Well I accidently left them at home and thought this is more comfortable anyway," he explained with a wave. "Anyway, that's not why I'm talking to you kids." The two looked back up at his face again as he kneeled down to their height.

"I'm the lead scientist for the Spore Initiative," he revealed with a lopsided grin. "And I have a feeling that isn't the first 'crazed' pokemon you've come across, right?" Charlotte nodded slowly, curious as to what Monroe was getting at.

"Now I'm sure you would like an explanation to all of this, and I happen to have one," he continued in an almost mockingly professional tone. "But first, this poor thing needs tending to." He gestured to the unconscious Nightshade. Kit backed away from the scientist warily – he was not letting such a suspicious stranger touch his pokemon.

"Relax, ninja kid, I'm trying to help him recover faster – you won't even need to backtrack to a pokemon centre!" Monroe pressed, with a hint of desperation in his tone. With another flourish, he whipped out another syringe from his coat, taking the cap off the needle. Kit only clutched at his pokemon tighter, continuing to back away.

Anger flitted across Monroe's features but before he could say anything, Charlotte interjected. "K-Kit's just protective of his pokemon, uh, w-we a…," she trailed off, unsure what the best course of action was for this situation. She glanced at Kit, hoping he would be able to handle it – this scientist made her uncomfortable.

There was a long moment of silence as Kit stared at his pokemon. Eventually, he let loose a groan and held Nightshade towards Monroe who eagerly set to work immediately, injecting the serum into the nidorino's shoulder. He squirmed slightly as the fluid began to spread throughout his veins, but was soon to fall back into unconsciousness again. Swiftly, Kit returned him to his pokeball.

"Thank you," said Monroe cheerily as he tucked the used syringe back away. He clapped his hands together, startling Charlotte. "Now, those answers I promised, let's sit." Monroe sat on the edge of the waterfall, tapping the space beside him. Charlotte took the offer, squeezing Fang tight in her anxiousness. Kit chose to stay exactly where he was, folding his arms defensively.

"Our initiative is currently working on a serum that will dramatically increase the health and strength of your pokemon, but, like I said, it has undesirable side effects – we can't mass produce it for the general public like this," he explained lazily. "The rampaging pokemon you have been seeing are our field test pokemon. We are working to keep things in control but there are little…issues," he said carefully. "We are trying to find various components to add to our current solution in order to make it more efficient." Charlotte nodded as he spoke, trying to understand all he was saying.

"Why?" asked Kit.

"Why?" parroted Monroe with a false look of shock. "Well why not? Wouldn't you like your pokemon to be stronger? Healthier? Happier?" he asked rhetorically. Both Kit and Charlotte nodded. "The Initiative aims to make pokemon and people happier world wide – this serum is only the tip of the iceberg, trust me," he said, winking at the girl she tried to smile in return but ended up grimacing instead.

"Anyway, basically, if you happen to come across any pokemon that are more violent than usual, don't be alarmed because we have it u-," he was cut off mid-sentence by a buzzing coming from the front pocket of his lab coat. He whipped out a cell phone, answering it as quick as he could. He was quiet for a few moments, listening to a mumble Charlotte and Kit couldn't hear.

"Well I got to go kids, have fun on your journeys," he rushed in a flat tone as he hopped to his feet, scurrying off towards the back of the park. Clucking his tongue, Kit whispered at Charlotte to wait a few moments. The both of them stared at the patchwork on the scientist's retreating back until he was a white blob in the distance.

It was then that Kit snatched Charlotte's wrist, sprinting towards the woodlands nearby. "Kit!" yelped Charlotte as she struggled to keep up with him. "What are you doing?"

"He was watching our battle that entire time. I think he was taking notes. He could have stepped in at any time but he didn't. He watched that piece of shit slice open my Nightshade like he was butter," he explained in a dark and serious tone. He jumped over the white picket fence, letting go of Charlotte. She clambered over it with less grace, calling out to her companion to wait as he rushed off without her.

By the time she caught up, she was completely out of breath and her skin was slicked with sweat. She crouched beside him behind a bush, peering out over it at the trail winding through the trees. Opening her mouth to ask Kit what was going on; he slapped his hand over her lips.

Hearing the grinding of tires against dirt tracks, they watched in silence as three pick-up trucks rolled past. Numerous cages were stacked in the back of each truck, containing grass and poison pokemon of numerous species, including some they didn't recognise. The windows were tinted, so they couldn't see the drivers.

They didn't need to; a large 'S' was painted in green on each door.

"What are they doing with those pokemon?" Charlotte whispered as Kit took his hand away from her mouth, wiping it on his shirt.

"I don't know," he replied curtly. "But those don't look injured like the pokemon they claim to take in." He was right – they all looked like they were in perfect condition. Charlotte furrowed her brow as the last of the trucks trundled off down the track, the cages rattling with the movement.

Guarded by four members of the Initiative, was Monroe. He was still on his phone, looking irate and bothered. He scratched angrily at the rash on his face. They couldn't hear much of what he was saying, only managing to catch words such as 'test', 'poison' and 'tracking', along with the occasional swear.

The pair froze as one of the guard's gaze fell upon the bush they were hiding behind. Kit grabbed Charlotte by the hair and pushed her down to the dirt as he ducked, hoping they wouldn't be seen or heard. Charlotte nodded at Fang, a signal for him to get ready in case they were attacked.

They heard the crunch of his footsteps as he approached. Charlotte clutched at Kit's shoulder in a panic, prompting him to bat her hands away. There was silence for a few moments, before there was a yell.

"Boss! There are two kids hiding over here!" he shouted. Charlotte screamed as she got to her feet, noticing that Kit had already made a break for it into the woods, leaving her to her fate. She scowled as she began to run in his direction, only to be pulled back by a strong hold on the collar of her jacket.

She struggled violently as she was lifted a foot off the ground.

"Fang!" she screamed. "Help!" In a burst of piercing white light, Fang leapt from his position, his light engulfing the arm of his trainer's attacker. He cried out in pain as blood began to drip from his fingers, causing him to drop Charlotte and recoil in pain. Two of the other guards rushed over as Fang dropped from his arm, the light fading in a burst.

Her little totodile was now a croconaw and only half a meter shorter than her. With a roar, he unleashed a might beam of water that was much stronger than any of his attacks as a totodile. Caught off guard, his attack successfully hit the men, causing one of them to fall over.

"Run!" yelled the girl as she dashed off towards National Park with her pokemon in hot pursuit. In the distance, she heard Monroe yell at the men not to give chase, much to her relief. Her pace slowed as she reached the fence, Fang helping her over with ease.

Spotting Kit near the fountain, she rushed over to him, anger in her eyes. "Kit why did you leave me to those guys?" she whined. The boy had his mask off and was splashing slightly bloody water from the fountain onto his face. For a brief moment, she got to see his face before he slipped his mask back on. She frowned.

"They meant no harm," he shrugged. "They have no reason to chase after and prosecute kids like us. And it's not like we saw their biggest secrets or anything." Charlotte opened her mouth to argue but quickly closed it – he had a good point. Her pokemon evolved trying to defend her so she supposed that was a bonus. Her anger rapidly subsided like water down a drain as she admired Fang's new form.

He was much larger than before – certainly too big for his trainer to carry around anymore. The yellow strip on his stomach as a totodile had expanded to the majority of his belly, with the occasional patch of blue scales showing through. His red spines had increased in number and size. Finally, his large fangs seemed to fit his jaw better.

"You look so cool!" she swooned as she gave the pokemon a tight hug. He clicked cheerily in reaction, feeling immensely proud of his newfound strength – he was going to show that stuck up sheep that the strongest pokemon in Charlotte's team was him and him alone. He found that his arms also reached to her back now, allowing him to return her hug properly.

"Alright, break it up," huffed Kit. "We got to get to the pokemon centre. I have a bad feeling about the stuff that ugly guy put in Nightshade." Agreeing, Charlotte reluctantly broke away from her partner pokemon and returned him to his pokeball.

According to the nurse, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Nightshade apart from his injury which should heal overnight. Kit told her about Monroe and how he had injected some weird liquid into his pokemon. The nurse didn't seem concerned but ran some tests anyway. Apparently, the serum was a weakened version of pokerus that shouldn't do too much harm to the pokemon.

Or so she said.

Once Charlotte and Kit woke that morning, they were alerted to the fact that Nightshade had been extremely restless overnight. It seemed to be in pain, so they provided some sedatives and he went back to sleep. She assured that it was just a side effect of pokerus and that he should be fine once he woke.

True to her word, Nightshade was back to nearly full health by midday, save for the wound on his side. It would need to stay bandaged up for a few more days.

Relieved that everything was alright, the rivals headed back to National Park to continue training for Charlotte's next gym battle, and gathering money for Kit's goals.


	14. Untold Mystery

**Chapter Fourteen: Untold Mystery**

 _(A/N: Thank you all very much for your views, favourites and reviews!)_

Luckily for Charlotte, the weather was cool the day she took a trip to the Ruins of Alph. She had been there a few times before, since it was so close to Violet City, but she was never permitted to explore much due to her mother's protectiveness. So the mysteries held deep within the caverns remained unknown to her.

But even once she had become a trainer with formidable pokemon; her free will was still restricted and she was forced into mining for precious stones and fossils by her rival.

She groaned as she inspected the rock she had just split open, finding absolutely nothing once again. Slumping into the dirt, she watched Athena and Kit continue to split more rocks open. Charlotte wondered how Kit even had the strength to lift that pickaxe and crack those big boulders open. She was pretty impressed, if she was honest.

"Keep going," he commanded, panting. "I'm not leaving until I've found a fossil or two to sell." Charlotte didn't move a muscle – even the cool weather wasn't enough to stop her body getting hot and sweaty from manual labour. Instead, she stared at the clouds drifting across the sky, seeing various shapes.

Slowly, she closed her eyes, enjoying the rhythmic clacking of Athena's fists or Kit's pickaxe against rock. She wasn't sure how long she had been laying there, since she had drifted into a sort of state between consciousness and sleep, perturbed only by Kit shouting in victory.

"Carrot!" he yelled as he pulled the half-asleep girl onto her feet, shoving the fossil he had found under her nose. She was unsure what was so special about the rock he was showing her. After staring at it dumbly for a few moments, a smile slowly stretched her lips once she noticed the strange swirling pattern on the rock that resembled a snail's shell.

"Oh!" she gasped. "A fossil, great job!" she congratulated cheerily. Athena trotted up to her, looking disappointed. Charlotte petted the ridges on top of her grey head. "Don't worry, okay, you were lots of help." The machop didn't seem convinced by the girl's reassurance, kicking a rock to the side in frustration.

"Quick let's go sell this to those nerds in the cabin over there," Kit said excitedly as he ran off towards a hastily built shack crafted from logs of wood and blue iron sheeting. Returning Athena to her pokeball, Charlotte scurried off after him, hoping that he would finally agree to explore once he had sold the fossil off.

She caught up with Kit just as he entered the shack, throwing open the wooden door. He rushed to the counter, slamming the fossil down on the counter, which scared the living daylights out of the woman who had been calmly attending to her job. Charlotte giggled at his enthusiasm as she looked around the place.

Since the ruins were quite the tourist attraction, the tiny receptionist office was packed with shelves housing various souvenirs and knick-knacks such as snow globes and plush toys of resident pokemon in the area. Information pamphlets were also available, catching Charlotte's interest. She read about one of the ancient temples in the ruins as Kit finished his transaction.

"Eight thousand bucks," chuckled Kit as he appeared beside her, leering over her shoulder. She was so absorbed by what she was reading that she merely hummed in response. "For a stupid rock – what idiots," he laughed as he snatched the pamphlet out of her hands. He gave it one look before tossing it aside. She scowled at him for a few moments.

"Can we go explore now, please?" she pleaded, clasping her hands together. He rolled his eyes under his mask. He had no desire to wander around a bunch of ancient buildings with no current relevance to society. He groaned and turned away from her, shaking his head. "Oh, come on," she whined, grabbing hold of the collar of his kimono and dragging him towards the shack door.

He huffed in frustration. "Fine but I better get something out of this," he complained, trying to struggle out of her grip. Charlotte swiftly let go of his collar, not wanting to touch him for longer than what was necessary – that would be weird. They avoided eye contact as they headed towards the nearest ruin.

Standing outside the crumbling doorway to the ancient building, Charlotte's blue eyes sparkled. She admired the disintegrating, brown bricks that consisted of the building's walls. Winding between the cracks in the walls were numerous snake-like vines. Moss grew on most of the bricks like a thick blanket that crumbled away once Charlotte ran her hands over it.

"Hurry up!" called Kit from inside.

"Coming!" Charlotte chirped as she skipped inside after him.

Sending out one of their pokemon for protection, the pair cautiously descended the ladder precariously placed in a hole in the floor of the ruin. Sunnyside was tucked away safely in her jacket, peeking out through the top whilst Nyx was perched on Kit's shoulder, taking note of anything that moved.

The ruin was dark and damp, lit only by various lanterns left at regular intervals by both visitors and archaeologists. Kit picked on up so that they would have a more permanent light source. Slightly creeped out by the atmosphere, Charlotte removed her pokemon from her jacket so she could hug him as she walked onwards.

"What exactly are we here for?" asked Kit as he batted at a spider web that had latched onto his mask. "All I'm seeing is mould, dust and cobwebs."

"Mystery," answered Charlotte in a wavering tone. "All these symbols on the walls must mean something," she said, pointing out the intricate murals and writings adorning the decrepit halls of the ruin. Kit held the lantern up to illuminate a particular section that depicted a strange pokemon the two had never seen before. It was an eye imbedded in a question mark.

"I don't think they do. It looks like ancient people were tripping out," Charlotte ignored his lack of imagination as traced her fingers over the carvings, picking up dust as she did so. With a start, her fingers slipped into a crack in the wall she hadn't noticed. She yanked them back, finding that they were covered in odd black goo. She grimaced and wiped it off on her jacket.

Kit nudged her shoulder, luring her attention to where he was pointing. It took a while for Charlotte to see what he was seeing, due to the darkness beyond the halo of the lantern. Heart lurching in her chest, she noticed a single eye glaring at them. She covered her mouth as a scream threatened to tear from her throat.

"Be quiet," he hissed as the eye blinked a few times, before disappearing altogether. Simultaneously, both children felt a cold shudder trail down their spines.

"Was that…?" Charlotte uttered almost silently as she was afraid that the creature would hear her and return. Kit wordlessly pointed to one of the many eyeball-like pokemon carved all over the walls. Charlotte hugged her togepi closer, who still seemed completely unfazed by the event – did anything bother the little guy?

"Come on," Kit ushered as he lit the way towards the hall the eyeball had appeared in. Charlotte remained stock still, even as the lantern's light moved further and further away. She could feel her flesh crawl with goose bumps, the hair rising on the back of her neck – there was something in the air here and she didn't like it.

Gulping nervously, she hurriedly caught up to Kit, sticking uncomfortably close to him. Their footsteps echoed in the empty halls of the ruin. The two certainly got the sense that something was watching them, attributing the feeling to the eyes they were seeing in their peripheral vision. The wall had fallen in here and there, creating some difficulty in navigation.

Ultimately, they reached the very end of the hall way, or at least, the accessible end of the hallway. The ceiling had caved in, completely obstructing the hallway, save for a tiny gap in the debris that only a small child could crawl through. Beside the hole was a discarded lantern which had long burnt out.

Kit bent down to get a better look at the hole. "It's caved in way back," he said. "That's probably why they haven't excavated yet – it could bring down the whole place." Suddenly, he lurched backwards, nearly bumping into Charlotte. Startled, she asked him what happened.

"Another one of those eye things," he replied.

"I wonder what's behind there?" pondered Charlotte. "That hole looks big enough for Sunnyside to squeeze through but I don't want him going in there alone." Muttering something under his breath, Kit paced up and down the hallway for a bit before throwing his arms up in the air.

"See, I told you coming down here was pointless," he huffed. Nyx hooted in a disgruntled fashion in reply, ruffling her plumage. "It's creepy as hell," he added, throwing a glance over his shoulder. There was nothing there now, but he could have sworn those damn eyes were following him. "Let's just go."

"B-but!" started Charlotte as Kit stalked away once more. "I want to know what all these carvings mean!"

"Not even the scientists know what they mean, just let it go or stay here and let those things get you," he called. Shuddering, Charlotte took a few steps in his direction, refusing to stray too far from the warmth of the lantern. But she never reached the light.

It went out, along with Kit's body.

"Kit!" Charlotte exclaimed as she rushed to the place he had just been standing. Placing Sunnyside down, she knelt to the ground, trying to find any traces of her ninja friend. Perhaps he had just did that thing ninjas do? The disappearing act that teleported them from one place to the next. If so, she was angry with him for abandoning her in the dark like this.

Finding nothing, she scooped Sunnyside up and headed back down the hall at a sprint. There were more eyes in her peripheral vision than ever before – mocking her by disappearing whenever she tried to get a good look at them. She could see nothing but the eyes, in fact.

Where were those lanterns that lit the halls moments ago?

All of a sudden, the ground beneath her seemed to shift – shudder up and down like the back of a massive pokemon, before giving way completely. A harsh scream tearing from her throat, the girl was hit with a blast of air, fully expected her body to collide with the hard ground at any second.

To her utter confusion, once she pried her eyes open, she discovered that she was already sitting on the ground – as if she had never gotten up in the first place. The lanterns had returned, lining the hall at regular intervals. As she steadily rose to her feet, her confusion grew at the realisation that she wasn't in the same place as before.

There were no carvings on the walls – just blank, crumbling brown slabs of stone. It seemed more intact and untouched than the rest of the ruin – which didn't explain the presence of the lanterns. Another involuntary shudder ran down her spine.

"Should we…should we try to find Kit?" she asked her pokemon. It chirped in agreement, or at least Charlotte assumed it was agreement. She nodded as she shakily treaded onwards, pleased to see that the eyes had disappeared from her peripherals.

She soon found Kit standing at the end of the hallway, peering out into what appeared to be a massive, empty room. Nyx was perched right on his shoulder – feathers ruffled but fine nonetheless. Relieved to find him, she rushed over to his side.

"I thought I lost you," she panted. Kit shrugged.

"It wouldn't matter if you did," he snorted. "We must have fallen through the roof," he explained, pointing to the pair of holes in the ceiling. That still didn't provide an answer for why Charlotte hadn't even felt the impact – she should at least have some bruises or something.

Charlotte's mouth dropped open as she examined the room, unsure where to even start. Every surface of the room was covered in murals, depicting scenes of humans interacting with pokemon in all ways imaginable, telling some sort of story.

Covering the majority of the back wall was a delicate engraving of a gargantuan tree. Floating all about this tree were small, mouse like pokemon with long tails and numerous ditto. Ancient language was carved all around it, explaining whatever was taking place.

In the middle of the room was a swirling pattern, leading towards a small indent in the floor.

The whole room was swarmed with the unknown eye pokemon.

"What the hell," muttered Kit, awe colouring his tone. "What kind of weird things were ancient people up to? Who builds stuff like this?" Ignoring him, Charlotte's gaze fell upon a Spore Initiative scientist inspecting the tree mural, rapidly taking notes in a notepad. His echoing whisper easily hit her ears in the desolate room.

"…That's what we were missing," he said. He turned his head to look at the newcomers, snapping his notebook closed and scooping up his knapsack. The children watched as he came right towards them, tensing up in case he chose to challenge them to a fight.

He didn't, he just casually walked right past. "There is a hidden passage accessed by a button in the eye of one of the unown," he explained out of the blue as he walked to the end of the passage. Seemingly, it was a dead end. He pressed a specific part of the wall, causing a rumbling sound to erupt from the place where he stood.

A section of the wall pulled into the ground, a world of darkness behind it, into which the scientist disappeared. He hadn't even brought a light source with him. The hidden door rumbled closed behind him, leaving Kit and Charlotte in awe.

"I…I think we should go back now," Charlotte admitted as she moved out of the way of an eye pokemon as it moved past her, phasing right through the wall the scientist disappeared through.

"Yeah," agreed Kit. "This place sucks."

The passageway led to a dilapidated, crumbling wall that was likely the only remnants of an old building. The taste of fresh air relaxed Charlotte as she took a deep, steadying breath, letting it out in a deep sigh. With little else to do but train and hunt for money for the rest of the afternoon, Charlotte suggested that they take a dip in one of the small lakes around the ruins.

Dipping her toes in the chilly water, Charlotte smiled as she watched her pokemon paddle around and splash at one another. All except for Static, who preferred to sunbake beside her. Kit too, swum around, having discarded his shirt on the shore, much to Charlotte's embarrassment. He wondered what all the fuss was about – it wasn't like he was showing anything private.

Thoughtfully, Charlotte furrowed her brow as she stared at her rippling reflection in the water. Her mind went back to the ruins – of that massive tree and the eye pokemon that roamed the entire place. It was like she had peered into a pocket of time she wasn't meant to see.

Just what did that scientist see that she couldn't? What was the significance of that tree? These thoughts swirled in her mind, stressing her out until Kit's voice drew her from her introspection.

She giggled as she watched him wrangle with a poliwag who he had accidently stepped on, promising him that she would help out as she slipped into the cold water.


	15. Orion

**Chapter Fifteen: Orion**

Kit was visibly nervous, about as nervous as Charlotte. This was a first.

It was his idea to challenge the Kimono Girls of the Ecruteak theatre so Charlotte was surprised to see someone as stoic as Kit shake like that. He looked like she did during her very first gym battle a week ago. He actually coerced her into challenging the girls to a double battle, probably so he wouldn't have to do it alone.

Neither of them actually knew how to perform in a double battle, so it was certainly a learning curb. They had to be wary not to injure each other's pokemon during the fight, and somehow plan their moves so that they would either benefit or work along with the pokemon on their side. It was a style the two weren't particularly keen on.

They had managed to power their way through the first pair of Kimono girl's pokemon, injuring their own pokemon enough in the process to require a switch out.

"Athena, use seismic toss to counter flareon's quick attack as it hits you," Charlotte commanded. Athena bended to her will immediately. She still wasn't fully comfortable in battle, but her trainer's support over the past few days had aided her confidence immensely. She had also hasn't lost under her training yet.

Distracted by the tantalizing beauty of the girls, Kit was late to call his attack, brought back to reality only by the sight of his opponent's jolteon sparking the living daylights out of his freshly caught poliwag. The water type barely hung on as Kit got his head back in the game.

"Shit!" he swore, causing Charlotte to frown. He swears too much. "Poseidon use bubble!" he called in desperation, despite it being too late. His pokemon had already fainted. Charlotte, on the other hand, had managed to beat her own opponent, and was now more concerned about Kit.

"Enough," spoke the woman who just obliterated Kit's pokemon. "It is evident to me that the both of you, especially this boy, have some things to learn before they are able to battle to their full potential against us," she explained sternly, tucking her hands into the sleeves of her heavily embroidered kimono. The boy lowered his head, hiding his shame behind his wooden mask.

After returning his injured poliwag to his pokeball, he stepped down from the stage, heading for the exit. He tended to leave situations like that a lot, the girl noticed. Charlotte frowned. She knew the woman was right – they were way too powerful for them. It was by pure luck that they had gotten as far as they did – their pokemon would not be able to persist much longer.

Thanking the girls for a good battle with a curt bow, Charlotte scurried after her rival, only to bump into him moments later as he was stopped in his tracks by a glare. A bony hand slid the door aside, allowing his willowy form to step into the theatre.

His entire presence was intimidating – from his appearance right down to the way he carried himself. Charlotte noted that he had the same air about him as the mysterious man from Azalea Town, prompting her guard to rise. She placed a hand on Static's pokeball in anticipation.

He grinned toothily at the children as he swept past them, showing off his missing incisor tooth. In his wake lingered the scent of artificially flavoured medicine and lemon juice. He wore an expensive black suit, complete with a tie patterned with a simplified depiction of an ekans.

His wispy, pale blonde mop swept his forehead, obscuring his devious umber glare somewhat. His skin was extraordinarily pale – as if he had never stepped into the sunlight. His eyes seemed to glint with madness akin to someone who had seen too much. He outstretched his arms, showing off the extensive scaring on his hands.

"I heard wind of a sick pokemon here?" he called. His voice was smooth and deep, but lacked the harshness one would expect. Two more girls clad in kimonos emerged from the back room, thanking him for his kindness as they guided him back stage. The man glanced at the children over his shoulder – Kit could have sworn he saw him wink.

Pushing aside the curtains, he disappeared. Moments later, Kit followed – a man like that should not be in a place like this, helping sick pokemon. He didn't look the part nor had the kind of aura a more benevolent social worker or nurse would have.

"Kit, what are you doing?" hissed Charlotte as she wrung her hands together, refusing to follow. "We aren't allowed to go backstage," she reminded him sternly. She wasn't about to cross the sacred ground beyond the rippling curtains, where the pre-show magic took place. Also, that guy was creepy – she preferred to stay out here with the friendly eeveelutions.

"I don't care," Kit mumbled as he pulled apart the curtains just enough so that he could peer inside without revealing himself.

The suited man was bent over the small, shuddering form of what appeared to be an eevee. Its fur was unnaturally pale and its expression was twisted in pain. He clucked his tongue as he brushed a hand over its clammy coat, causing it to convulse at his touch.

"You said that serum would make her stronger," whispered one of the painted ladies as she glared at the blonde, her generally peaceful complexion twisted into anger.

"It is," he cooed, continuing to pet the creature despite its writhing. "The serum contains the pokerus virus amongst some other things – she's a runt so it will make her a little sick for a while," he explained, grinning to himself. "Still, there is a chance things could go seriously wrong. I suggest you leave her in our care for the rest of this week."

A mumble of whispers broke out amongst the women as they exchanged wary glances – even they knew that there was something out of place about this man and his offer. His smile and the glimmer in his eyes may have been genuine, but the way he possessively leered over the eevee's body was a cause for concern.

"We can't trust you," one of them finally spoke up. "Nearly every incident we've heard of involving this mystery serum has made pokemon sick and enraged – you say you and your people are going to fix it, but are you really?" He leant back a little from the eevee, umber eyes piercing through the icy glare of the kimono girl.

"Trust me, our newest ingredient will fix the whole issue of rampages – in fact, your pokemon may even become more subservient," he mused languidly, almost darkly. A cold shudder ran down Kit's spine – that guy was more suited to the mad scientist role in an old movie than the philanthropist he claimed to be.

A tense silence settled over the cluttered backstage room, punctuated by the laboured breathing the sickly eevee. Finally, the eldest woman nodded, though her wrinkled face was scrunched up in disgust at the man. "You have three days to return my pokemon to me or I will call the police – I don't care who you are – my pokemon are more important than you."

"Of course, my dear," he crowed, unfolded his gangly legs as he got to his feet, cradling the eevee gently in one of his mangled hands. He pressed his lips to the creature's forehead, before turning his attention to where Kit was hiding, meeting his blue eyes. He winked, and Kit noticed he was crossing his fingers behind his back.

Suddenly feeling intimidated, Kit gulped back a ball of spit.

"You have my word," he soothed, before heading towards the curtain and sweeping it apart, prompting Kit to scurry back down from the stage and re-join Charlotte. The girl had been distracted by a cute espeon throughout the entire conversation, having not heard a single word. She noticed Kit was tenser than usual as the man she saw just earlier headed out the door, sliding it closed with a click behind him.

"There is something seriously up with that guy," he noted. "If I cared more, I'd probably call the police on him."

"Isn't he the boss of the Spore Initiative?" began Charlotte inquisitively. "I think I've seen him on television a few times – they always talk about all the good he's done for Johto and Kanto." She barely recognised him when he first walked in, but once she was given some time to process, her mind travelled back in time to when she was back at home, watching the Johto news with her mother, and how she had briefly approved of his work.

Kit said nothing; he was too busy watching the man clamber into one of the trucks they had seen back in National Park, handing the eevee off to one of the white-coated scientists. He caught a flash of a large, purple pokemon before the vehicle drove out of view.

"Yeah, I've heard of him before too," muttered Kit after a few moments. "He calls himself Orion."

Green was initially reluctant towards the idea of teaming up with the newbie pokemon ranger Olivia Speckler. Even though they had been working alongside one another for a few days now, he still wasn't sure if she was entirely up to this task. Nevertheless, her position in the Pokemon Union was useful to him.

He had heard rumours of a Spore Initiative meeting taking place in Ecruteak City. A few important members of government were meant to be there, along with a couple of gym leaders so Green decided he would use his position to get in on the action.

His charizard circled once over the antique city of Ecruteak, orange form nearly blending into the peachy sunset. With a short roar, the dragon landed heavily outside the dance theatre, claws clacking against the pavement. Naturally enough, his arrival drew a few stares – for one, he was a notorious gym leader, and secondly, he arrived to a meeting on the back of a charizard instead of the back of a car.

He withdraw the lizard to his pokeball just as Olivia's befriended pigeot landed clumsily a little way away from him. The bird took to the skies again immediately after she dismounted. Green stared after it a few moments, still unable to understand why rangers behaved the way they did.

Adjusting his tie, he noticed how uncomfortable Olivia looked – tense, with a thin sheen of sweat on her heavily made-up face. "We aren't exactly authorized for this, you know," she admitted. Green shrugged as he unbuttoned his satin vest a little – he hated dressing up like this.

"Despite Gym Leaders being given a lot of freedom," he began. "They wouldn't approve of me snooping around like this, considering the amount of money they pump into the Initiative. But there is basically nothing they can do to punish me for it – so long as I don't take it too far."

"I, on the other hand," she sighed, sliding open the door to the theatre, "was specifically told to return to the base in Kanto after my patrols here and not to interfere too much." That was why she was so nervous – she was flying under the radar. He chuckled humorously, causing her to frown disapprovingly – this was serious.

"Such a rebel," he mocked.

Once inside, they mingled with some of the guests, exchanged pre-meeting pleasantries. There was some food provided thus Olivia chose to saunter off and hang around the buffet, leaving Green to do the talking. She watched him from afar whilst shoving cheese-stuffed olives into her mouth as elegantly as she could manage.

Alarm bells rang in Green's head as he noticed that all three of the Initiative's sector administrators were there, including their boss. It turned out that no other gym leaders showed, meaning that he was practically alone in a sea of unfamiliar faces – all of which could do a lot of political and possibly physical harm to him if he wasn't careful.

At one point, someone handed him a glass of red wine, which he cautiously sipped at. He could feel the alcohol running through his veins, clearing his head, calming his nerves. His plan was simply to listen and take mental notes – it was safer to stay neutral than get involved in a side one doesn't fully understand.

On a side note, this meeting was awfully ritzy – it didn't feel right.

The clinging of a glass signified the beginning of the meeting. Swiftly, everyone took their seats. Olivia took the spare seat beside Green, still chewing her final mouthful of free food.

"You're a stress eater aren't you?" smirked Green.

"Shush," she fumed as Orion sat down at the head of the table, surrounded by his administrators. He spread his scared palms wide, as if embracing every individual at the table.

"Welcome to the Spore Initiatives productivity meeting," he welcomed cheerily. "It is my pleasure to have your company today – I know the League and the Union has been eager to hear of our progress on the Genome Serum, especially after all the violence that has occurred in recent weeks because of it," he added, more grimly this time. His smile dropped off his face as one of the government officials spoke up.

"You know that we can't tolerate this any longer – the public is becoming wary of what you are marketing as something medically revolutionary," he said, knitting his fingers underneath his chin. "We've supported you this far but if these incidents keep occurring with no beneficial outcome we will cut funding and support to your initiative." Green hid a smile – straight to business.

Orion shuffled uncomfortably as he placed his hands down on the table gently. "In the last two days our lead scientist Monroe Augustine and his team of professionals have discovered a particular gene in the pokemon bayleef that has the potential to negate negative side effects such as illness, confusion and irritability," he explained as he waved to a nearby pair of green and black clad guards protecting a wooden crate with circular holes drilled into the top. One of the guards wheeled the crate up to the stage so that the entire table could see what was about to unfold.

"Augustine will demonstrate," he said, winking almost suggestively at the red-head as he left his seat. The man couldn't have looked prouder as he unhooked a gun-like apparatus from the belt of his skinny jeans. All was silent in anticipation as he deliberately stepped onstage.

The other guard cautiously clicked open the lock on the crate. A loud squeal came from within it as Monroe reached in to grab the snarling creature, drawing it out by its curly, purple tail. The rattata was unlike any Green had ever seen before – and he had seen a lot of rattata. Every strand of its fur stood on end as it struggled wildly, foaming at the mouth. Some of the people at the table seemed visibly distressed by the sight. A flurry of whispers rose up for a few moments.

"This pokemon was injected with the beta version of the Genome Serum," began Monroe with a wide yawn. He didn't seem even slightly intimidated or wary of the violent pokemon. "Like many of the other subjects, this rattata is suffering from irritability and confusion and has become violent," with another high-pitched squeal from the rat, Monroe pierced its flesh with the gun, injecting the serum into its bloodstream.

Green was finding this hard to watch. He knew that the Initiative used live test subjects – in fact, fact that was one of his primary reasons for his suspicion against them. Such actions were considered immoral and inhumane. He could barely believe the government had supported them so long.

Instantaneously, the creature ceased its struggling, and Monroe placed it at his feet. It sat down obediently, blinking a few times. It was placated.

"As you can see, the alpha version of the Genome Serum works perfectly-," Monroe began, only to be interrupted by a female member of the Union.

"Mr. Orion said that this serum was created only a few days ago – that does not give you enough time to fully test its effects," she pointed out as she tapped her long nails on the table impatiently. Rage flickered through Monroe's eyes as he waved to the guards, signalling that it was time to clean up. He handed the lab rat to one of them as he sat down. Orion looked displeased.

"Not to mention that you are still using live subjects for testing," started Lance – the current champion of the Johto – Kanto pokemon league. He addressed Orion with a dark look, as if he would sic his dragonite upon him at any sign of hostility. "That is something that has been illegal for a long time – the only reason we continued funding and support to your project was due to your previous innovation."

A smile quirked the corner of Orion's lips as he nodded at the man who called himself Storm – the man Charlotte had become acquainted with in Azalea Town. Green could tell by how tightly pursed his lips were, and how his leg shook, that Storm was holding back an outburst of anger.

"Ah yes," he began, his voice struggling to stay calm. "The Amplifier Project – installed in pokemon centres worldwide, providing the technology to fully heal pokemon with minor to moderate wounds at higher speeds than previously observed."

"It put a lot of people out of work," she continued. "Yet it functions brilliantly and has made the lives of trainers more efficient. The Genome Serum is suspicious to us – just why do you want to create a medication that can ultimately make a trainer's pokemon stronger and healthier?"

"Better protection, better battles, more power – who doesn't want to see that?" snapped Storm impatiently. Orion shot him a glare that was largely missed by the table – that man could change his expression as quick as a whip.

"Ultimately mortality rates of trainer's pokemon will dramatically increase," he replied smoothly.

"Yet death rates in wild pokemon will increase," answered another government official. Lance nodded eagerly in agreement. Orion sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair. Green could tell that he was having a debate in his mind, judging from the conflicted look in his umber eyes. He noticed the lady dressed in a green, satin dress lean over to him, whispering into his ear. His expression flickered to annoyance for a few seconds before she withdrew and his face fell grim.

"I am getting the feeling that you have organised this meeting for a particular purpose, no? Other than to see the fruits of the Initiative's labour," he uttered to Lance through his teeth, breath whistling through the gap.

"Yes – the Union and the League have come to the decision that funding is to be removed from the Initiative-," he began, stopping at the sound of a bang. Storm had slammed his hands on the table, face screwed up in utter rage equivalent to that of a primeape.

"Bullshit!" he spat, causing a rise of mumbles from the audience. "You haven't even heard of our Plan B – of the Custom Scheme!" Orion raised his hand, signalling to his associate to quieten down – he didn't. "It'll make your heads spin right off!"

"Frankly, your plans do not sound as egalitarian as you make them out to be – in fact," spoke up another member of the council, "…it almost sounds like the power-grabbing plans put forth by Giovanni and his own underlings two years ago."

"You really think that we are like those fools!" roared Storm as Orion shook his head in embarrassment.

"Harumi, please escort your estranged husband out of here – clearly he cannot be a well-mannered adult in this situation." Hurriedly, the pregnant woman pushed herself out of her chair, rushing to Storm's side. He seemed to settle down slightly at her touch as she guided him towards the door. On her way out, her ruby eyes met Green's, shiny with concern.

She was different from the others.

Once Storm was safely outdoors, the conversation was resumed as if his outburst had not occurred. "Now, I am sure we can come to some kind of agreement here. I understand that you may be unable to see the promise or usefulness of our projects at this current time. If you choose to withdraw funding, our organisation will cope through other means," he mused exhaustedly. Green did not like the way he said 'other means'.

Lance nodded. "Yes, that is best. There will also be police monitoring of your activities – using pokemon as test subjects, no matter how safe you believe your products to be," Orion looked displeased by this, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow as he groaned. There was a pause in conversation before the boss spoke up again.

"This meeting is adjourned," he spoke.

Both Green and Olivia were tense as they watched Orion and his administrators leave in their black, green and white vans, travelling off in the direction of National Park. Neither of them said a word throughout the entire meeting, which was probably for the best.

"I feel like Orion isn't just going to be defeated like this," Olivia began sheepishly, looking a lot paler than normal. Green shrugged.

"Best case scenario, the Initiative changes its approach and makes something more marketable and useful to the general public, without using pokemon for testing in the process," he explained wearily. His eyelids was getting heavy – he hadn't realised he was this tired. He would probably have to stay in Ecruteak for the night; otherwise he'd fall asleep on the back of his charizard.

"Yeah," Olivia sighed as she raked her fingers through her frizzy hair. "He doesn't seem unreasonable – ominous though. I can't understand why they let him off so easily for pokemon experimentation – people go to jail for years and years for that, sometimes even for life."

"You would think he's paying some government officials off," began Green, furrowing his brow in thought. "There were a couple people at that meeting who remained as silent as we were, too – it's just suspicious."

"I'd say we look into it – we can't bring Spore down without the government's help," Olivia noted. The gym leader nodded in agreement. Part of him had wished that this meeting had ended with the shutdown of the Spore Initiative, but that was unlikely. He had his work cut out for him.


	16. Crazed

**Chapter Sixteen: Crazed**

Charlotte was woken up at 3:00 in the morning by a low growl from Kit's side of the room. She rubbed her eyes blearily, wanting only to go back to sleep – she wanted to be wide awake for her gym challenge today. It took her a few moments to get out of bed – the growling was intimidating.

Fear welling within her, she shook Fang awake, who bit her hand instinctually, causing her to help. Realising what he had done, he set her free with confusion in his ocean-blue eyes. He quickly caught on to the growling emanating from Kit's bed.

Charlotte held his hand as they inched towards the bed, noticing that there was a shuddering ball of something beneath the blankets. Fiddling nervously with the hem of her satin pyjamas, Charlotte stopped a foot away from the bed.

"F-Fang," she whispered, "Could you p-pull back the covers?" The pokemon nodded – the unknown object didn't scare him in the slightest – he was a powerful croconaw now, he felt like he could take on nearly everything. With a swift tug, he pulled the blanket right off the bed, revealing Kit's sleeping form, along with his nidorino.

The growls grew louder as Nightshade noticed them. Charlotte backed away as it clawed at the mattress, tearing chunks of material and foam out of it. It was frothing at the mouth, and its eyes seemed to glow red with rage. It let loose a high pitched scream, finally waking Kit up from his slumber. One look at the angry nidorino caused him to scurry out of bed with a yell.

All the noise woke up the rest of their pokemon, who responded with various displays of alarm as Nightshade jumped off the bed, snarling and spitting as it began to scurry around helter skelter. To Charlotte and Kit's horror, it began to pursue and attack the nearest pokemon to it. Fortunately, they managed to dodge, escaping with just a few grazes.

"Kit what do we do?" Charlotte screamed.

"I don't know!" he yelled back.

"Why is Nightshade doing this?" asked the girl as she caught Sunnyside, who had jumped into her arms in all the confusion. He seemed a little perturbed but otherwise he was fine.

"It might be that shit that scientist guy pumped into his veins," Kit replied as he found his backpack and dug around in it for Nightshade's pokeball. "I thought that nothing was going to happen since he didn't show any symptoms after being injected with it!" He quickly found that despite the return beam directly hitting the pokemon, it failed in dematerializing him so that he could be returned.

Fear flashed in Athena's eyes. She remembered acting just like Nightshade was, back at the lab, the first time she was injected with the Embryo Serum. According to the scientist who was in charge of her, she was on a rampage for three full days – they had to actually tie her down to stop her from destroying the lab. She pitied the nidorino, empathising with him.

"I think we better knock him out," Kit suggested. He called upon his newly evolved poliwhirl, only for the pokemon to hesitate as Athena raised her hand, nodding at the trainers determinedly. Kit's mask-less face twisted in retaliation.

"He's my pokemon – my responsibility," he refuted. Athena ignored the boy as she landed a karate chop to nidorino's short neck. If it did any damage, it didn't show it – it was only further enraged. Kit and Charlotte hurriedly returned all their pokemon, deciding to just go along with it.

"Man and I thought he was pretty violent before," commented Kit as he dodged a horn attack from his own pokemon. Charlotte was less lucky due to her slower reflexes, copping a bad blast of poison sting. She cried out in pain as she collapsed on the bed, tiny needles injecting poison through her entire body. Angry, burning pain pierced her veins, tears streaming down her face.

"Shit!" yelled Kit, concern colouring his voice. He wasn't exactly close to her, but he would hate for his pokemon to be responsible for her death. "Grab some antidotes from my bag while Athena and I fight this thing!"

He heard Charlotte groan in pain as she caught the bag he tossed her. She was filled with fear at the possibility that the poison could actually kill her – that this could be her very last day of life. She was only eleven; she hadn't even finished her pokemon journey yet. She wasn't ready to die.

She applied the antidote to all the puncture wounds she could see as Athena got serious.

"I don't know what moves you know but do something!" shouted Kit as he became increasingly more and more panicked. Athena was way ahead of him, delivering the most powerful revenge she could enact. She knew from her personal experience that the serum boosted power immensely, particularly during violent outbursts like this, but it overworked the body and ultimately made it weaker.

Her body slammed into his, ramming him into the wall with a hard smack. The plaster actually splintered upon contact, easing a gasp out of Kit in surprise. With a lurch, Nightshade retaliated and punctured her stomach with its horn, causing her to back away with a shriek, clutching a hand at wound. It had already begun pooling blood. A dizzy spell came over her as she felt the effects of the poison kick in immediately.

"A-Athena," called Charlotte weakly. She shook her head. She should be able to put Nightshade down before she fainted from poisoning. She swiftly delivered a low kick right into nidorino's gut. Again, it showed no sign of pain as it unleashed a deluge of fury attack, limbs and head lashing about in an attempt to strike the nimble machop. She managed to dodge the first few, but the poison was quick to slow her down.

She prayed that her final attack would be enough to faint the pokemon – she could already see the steadily forming, deep violet and black bruises decorated its leathery skin. She put all her remaining might into a vital throw, aiming straight for Nightshade's belly, which was known to have softer skin. She tackled him, throwing him into a bed post as hard as she could manage, causing it to splinter upon contact.

Once the dust cleared, relief washed over both trainers and the pokemon as they saw Nightshade's unconscious form. Charlotte shakily got to her feet, body still numb from the effects of the poison. She desperately hoped that antidote was working. Everyone was left panting from the activity – worse for wear despite it only being ten past three in the morning.

"Let's go to the main floor. I think nurse joy can help both poisoned people and pokemon," said Kit through his laboured breathing. "She better help Nightshade too." He cautiously picked up the heavy pokemon, minding his spines.

Charlotte nodded, bending down to Athena and pulling her into a warm hug, thanking her for her efforts. The pokemon returned the hug, happy that she put Nightshade out of his misery – it was something she wished she had done for herself during her time as a lab rat.

After being pumped full of antidotes, both Charlotte and Athena had recovered from poisoning. Nurse joy told them that they would have to cut back on the activity for the remainder of the day though, since their bodies were already overworked as it was. She also tended to Nightshade, diagnosing him with exhaustion from his rampage and would need to rest in the centre for a while.

She was tired, but Charlotte was still determined to take on the Ecruteak. Since they still had hours before dawn, Kit and Charlotte returned to bed in their trashed room and rested until seven in the morning.

Feeling a lot better, the young girl awoke this time to grey skies and sheets of heavy rain. She sighed heavily at the sight as she pulled herself out of the covers, shuddering at the cold air. It was reaching mid-autumn so it was sure to be getting cold soon.

Kit seemed to be still asleep, much to her dismay. She wished he could be there for her gym battle, since she would like to have someone she knew cheering her on from the sidelines. Then again, Kit wasn't one for encouragement and support, from what she had seen of him.

Staring at the boy for a few moments, she admired his sleeping expression. His flushed cheeks were kind of pudgy – not unlike hers. His mouth was parted slightly as he breathed in and out almost silently. His body was completely relaxed, not tense like it was during his waking hours. He really did have the cutest face – Charlotte wished he didn't insist on wearing a mask all the time.

Realising that she had to get ready, she shook her head to distract her from Kit. She put on her long, yellow raincoat, drawing up the hood to keep the rain off her head. She still kept her cap on though, and even she admitted she looked a little silly. She returned all her pokemon save for Fang and headed out of the pokemon centre after leaving Kit a memo.

The rain battered her clothing like bullets as she jogged towards the purple-roofed gym, barely able to see through the downpour. Fang seemed to enjoy the rain, naturally enough, and made little effort to keep up with his trainer, preferring to bask in the cool rain.

She nearly slipped over as she skidded to a halt in front of the gym, beckoning to her partner to catch up. She stood under the eaves of the building, where she was largely sheltered from the rain. Considering her recent gym successes, her confidence had inflated immensely. She knew now that she could battle well, if not nearly as well as her mother did when she was her age.

She had admittedly skimped on a bit of training the past few days, but she was positive that her skills and strategy would afford her a win.

The electronic doors slid open, allowing her and Fang to step inside the lobby. As per usual, there were a couple of other trainers waiting for their chances to take on the gym leader, meaning that she would have to wait a little while for her turn.

She sat down on a plastic chair beside a potted plant, sending out Sunnyside so she could play with him and Fang to pass the time. About a minute had passed before she heard a sharp scream coming from the door to the gym. A girl came rushing past, face twisted in horror, with her girafarig galloping behind her. She left in moments, leaving Charlotte confused.


	17. Ecruteak Gym P1

**Chapter Seventeen: Ecruteak Gym Part One**

It took a little while for the young trainer's eyes to adjust in the sudden darkness. She knew that this was meant to be a ghost type specialist gym, so she was honestly surprised as to why she didn't expect the atmosphere to be intense.

There was a winding boardwalk built on high stilts that was only lit by lanterns held by strange women adorned in long white cloaks, decorated with strings of beads and other such jewellery. Beyond their halos of light, there was nothing but pitch black darkness.

Purple mist swirled around the girl's ankles as she stepped onto the boardwalk, her footsteps echoing hollowly through the entire arena. She squeezed Fang's hand tightly, keeping him close as she walked onwards. She could hear the sounds of flurried whispers and laughter in the back of her mind, though she couldn't seem to locate the source of the sounds – or even validate that they were real in the first place.

She could certainly understand why that girl had run out of this place – especially once she began seeing shadows dancing in the miasma that crawled below, preventing her from seeing the floor. She was shaking violently as intense fear beat through her heart – she hadn't been this scared for a while now.

Fang could see how upset his trainer was – the atmosphere was getting to him too. He fought through his fears to look her right in the eyes – the eyes that were nearly the same shade as his. He nodded determinedly and grinned as happily as he could manage. Charlotte was comforted by her pokemon's strength, her fear subsiding a little.

Due to the creeping darkness, Charlotte had to tread very carefully; else she would find herself tumbling right off the edge of the boardwalk and into the ominous mists below. She had no idea what was down there – was it an endless abyss or hard, cold ground? She hoped she would never find out.

She fought a total of four of those odd women, who called themselves a 'medium to the spirits'. One of them offered to commune with some of the resident spirits for her to see what it was like but Charlotte refused – she didn't want to speak to the undead ghost of something that has left the plane of the living. It was a terrifying concept to her.

As quickly as physically possible, Charlotte made it to the arena at the back of the gym was thankfully completely lit by lanterns suspended by poles at the corners of the platform. Sitting down in the middle of the platform was a man with shaggy blonde hair, dressed in a purple shirt and white skinny jeans. His purple and magenta scarf billowed out behind him, despite there being no draught indoors.

He stood up once he noticed Charlotte's presence, greeting her with a placid, almost stern expression. He extended his hand for her to shake, which she did reluctantly, if not very shyly. As her skin brushed his, his eyebrows shot up, before he broke contact.

"You are Janette's daughter, aren't you?" he began. Confused as to how he would know that, Charlotte nodded her head. Seeing her bewilderment, he explained, "Oh, I've been training here since I was a very young boy, speaking with so many ghost pokemon has awakened certain abilities within me – I guess you could say I'm a mystic."

"C-cool but…h-how do you know my mum?" Charlotte asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, I didn't know her personally but I've heard of some of the things she's done – like nearly destroying the Lake of Rage's gym way back when," he went on offhandedly. Seeing as he only made her even more puzzled, he decided to get the ball rolling.

"Anyway, trivial details, let's get this started," he said as Charlotte backed away to her side of the platform, Fang taking his place a couple meters in front of her. He asked how many badges she had, she told him she had two. He fiddled with his pokemon belt, removing one of the pokeballs and placing it in a container on the table behind him.

He then sent out a gastly. Its gaseous form rose high above the battle field, giggling as it circled around and around. Its wide cat-like eyes had a malicious, mischievous look in them – a look common to most ghost types. Gastly's fang filled mouth constantly grinned. A shudder ran down Charlotte's spine – she hated ghost types, if she was completely honest. She believed them to be despicable and disturbing creatures.

"Alright Fang, let's start with rage!" she began. She knew from practice that starting a lengthy battle off with such a move was a good idea, as each and every time Fang was hit by a physical move; it would make him angrier and thus, make his attack stronger.

"Come at me," Morty exhaled heavily, almost tiredly. It was at the last minute that Charlotte realised why Morty was so irritated by her choice in moves – ghost type pokemon were completely immune to normal-type moves. Gasping, she covered her mouth with her hands, knowing that it was too late to stop Fang.

His eyes glowed red as he leapt towards gastly, who grinned maliciously as the blue crocodilian phased right through his body, falling to the hardwood platform with a dumb look of bewilderment.

"Mean look," called the gym leader. Gastly turned its gruesome face towards the croconaw, eyes narrowing as its grin stretched to impossible limits. Its eyes glowed as red as Fang's did moments ago, radiating malice. A cold shudder ran down Fang's spine as a hazy purple aura surrounded him. Charlotte tightened her fist – now, she wouldn't be able to switch him out if he was in trouble.

The girl briefly considered all of Fang's moves: water gun, rage, bite and ice fang. Bite was a dark type move which would be super effective against a ghost pokemon, however, that alone wouldn't be enough to defeat it. She figured she could probably combine it with water gun for extra impact. Sighing shakily as anxiety began to nag at the back of her mind, she returned to the battle.

"Bite!" Charlotte commanded. Fang recovered from his fear and confusion, scrambling to his clawed feet. He pried open his jaw, starting towards the floating orb of poisonous gases that he considered an enemy, but only succeeded in clamping down on air. Gastly had simply teleported out of the way, drifting around the ceiling.

"U-uh," stuttered Charlotte. She really wished she had practiced on some ghost type users before coming here – in fact, this was the first time she has ever fought a ghost pokemon – she didn't know how they acted or how to defeat them.

"Gastly, come back down here and use lick," called Morty, shooting Charlotte an apologetic look. "Ghost types are prone to ignoring orders, even from gym leaders like myself – they are supposed to around the platform so that trainers without flying types have more of a chance. "But I can't guarantee they will stay put – just think of it as an added challenge." Looking disgruntled, the gastly drifted back down to the ground.

A long, magenta tongue extended from its jaw, slapping onto Fang's face. He visibly shuddered in disgust, his automatic response being to bite down on the tongue to get it to leave him alone. Gastly squealed in pain before its tongue dissipated into thin air. It reeled backwards, its form swirling more wildly, seeming to grow larger.

"Nice Fang!" cheered Charlotte. "Alright, try to freeze gastly with ice fang!"

"Curse this croconaw," said Morty as the miasma bubbling around gastly produced a single, large iron nail. On its own, the nail aimed its end at gastly's forehead, before hammering itself in, inch by inch. Charlotte was appalled at the sight, watching the pokemon flinch each time the nail moved. Eventually, it disappeared inside its head. Another nail was digging into Fang's own scalp, though this one was purple and hazy in contrast to the cold realism of the one gastly had.

Once the nail was in complete, Fang screamed in pain, doubling over for a few moments as pain radiated throughout his entire body, invading every cell and fibre.

"W-what was that?" asked Charlotte – never before had she seen a move like that.

"My gastly has placed a curse on croconaw in exchange for its health. Slowly, the curse will sap at croconaw's strength and health until it faints from exhaustion," he explained darkly. The young trainer couldn't believe there was a pokemon move that was so awful, blunt anger welled within her at the brutality ghost pokemon possessed.

Furrowing her brow, she called, "Fang, fight through the pain and counter with ice fang."

Squinting through his pain blurred vision, Fang noticed gastly pointing out his tongue mockingly – the tongue he had bitten off only moments ago. Growling, he snorted a blast of cold air, crystalizing the saliva in his mouth, using it to strength and lengthen his fangs. At the first snap, the ghost darted out of the way, giggling tauntingly.

Though Fang wasn't about to give up yet – he continued snapping and lurching towards gastly, trying to keep up with it. It was impossible – the thing seemed to be predicting Fang's attacks. Panic shuddered through Charlotte at the thought that she wouldn't be able to defeat it – how could she if it kept dodging.

Then she remembered that in order to use lick, it had to get pretty close to Fang. She thought that Fang could just bite it then, like he did just before.

"Use lick and be careful of those jaws!" Morty ordered. The ghost teleported right in front of Fang and drew his tongue across his face, leaving glowing green ectoplasm behind. Predicted his trainer's orders, he struck back with ice fang, this time managing to hit just before it teleported away. Fang noticed just how weird gastly's form was – it felt like a quivering ball of jelly. He quickly spat it out once he believed he had done enough damage.

A loud, almost human scream came from the pokemon as it darted around the room like a deflating balloon, before collapsing in a heap at Morty's feet. Its regular gas looked more like steam now, causing Morty to chuckle as he returned it to his pokeball.

"What a drama queen," he said. "Alright, let's do this haunter."

With that, he threw out a pokemon similar to gastly, though with a more stable, spikier form and less miasma. Two hands floated out in front of it – three fingered with long magenta claws. The cryptid's expression was even more sinister than gastly's. Its body was also twice the size of it, making it even more intimidating.

"That's terrifying," muttered Charlotte under her breath as she clutched at her rapidly thumping heart – she never wanted to see a ghost type pokemon again. Steadily growing more and more frightened and worried, the girl tried to push through her mental dilemmas and focus on the battle.

She took stock of Fang's appearance – he was looking woozy, his face screwed up as pain came over him in waves. That curse was putting him in a lot of pain – she needed to end this battle quickly, but Morty had more pokemon that what she had fought previously in gym battles. She hoped that mean look would wear out soon.

"Fang, it's going to be alright, I'm going to switch you out as soon as possible," Charlotte reassured. "Let's do as much damage possible with a bite and water gun combination."

Morty seemed to be waiting for this, as a sneer twisted his lips as Fang lunged forward, burying his fangs into the pokemon's almost gelatinous form, shaking his head from side to side, doing further damage to the wailing ghost. He then fired a beam of water gun – at close range, it does significantly more damage. He let go, grinning at the weakened form of the haunter.

"Now that he's close, let's give them a taste of their own medicine with hypnosis!" called Morty. At close range, that attack was nearly impossible to dodge – just like all of Charlotte's attacks so far. She gulped back a ball of spit as she began to sweat. The haunter grew in size, becoming more menacing as a hypnotic pattern of rings danced in its eyes.

Fang, incapable of escaping, was enraptured by the swirling, finding it oddly comforting. Before he knew it, he crumpled in a heap on the ground, snoring away. Charlotte stared in solemn silence at the pokemon, knowing that there was little she could do now.

"Dream eater!" yelled Morty. With a roar, haunter's mouth opened wide, engulfing the croconaw completely. Unaware of what was happening; Fang could do nothing as the aquamarine blue of his life force was sucked right out of him. It drained him to his very last ounce, dropping him on the wooden platform with a thump once it was done. He was no longer sleeping – he was unconscious.

Sighing heavily in defeat, she withdrew him to his pokeball, thanking him on his hard work. She knew now that this pokemon was trained specifically for hunting pokemon in their sleep – she had no idea to counter this strategy, other than to hope that her pokemon would be able to withstand its hypnosis attack in the first place.

"Go Static!" she said as the bipedal sheep appeared in a burst of red light at her feet. She baaed disgruntledly as she realised what she was up against. Charlotte had informed her whole team that they would be fighting ghosts, but she held them in the same regard as her trainer – they were to be feared and avoided at all costs.

Her form lost the usual bold edge it had to it as she eyed off the haunter, trying her best to change the direction of her fight or flight instincts to fight. Her fleece crackled with electricity as she charged herself up – if that thing laid one of those ghostly hands upon her, it would be fried instantly.

"Alright," began Charlotte sternly, "I need you to watch out for its hypnosis attack – I'm not sure how you can dodge, but I'm pretty sure it's a visual thing." Static nodded – she wanted to be on the same par as her trainer with this one.

"Start with a blast of thunder shock and make sure to keep your distance," she commanded with as much bravery as she could muster. Without even moving, the pokemon let loose a wild crack of electricity that struck the haunter like a whip. A smile quirked Charlotte's lips at the sight – it was so cool when she did that.

Static was the kind of pokemon who wished to be above others at all times therefore, as such, she liked to be the strongest in the group. In the few days before they challenged this gym, Charlotte often awoke to find her missing, only to find her in the forest, practicing her electric attacks. Athena began to join her a couple days ago. Charlotte accepted this, if only because she wanted them to bond.

The haunter was thankfully unable to dodge at such short notice, the attack electrifying its non-ethereal body, crackling over its deep violet surface. However, it did not react much to the pain, merely laughing mockingly at the sheep pokemon instead as it began to teleport here, there and everywhere. Charlotte got the impression that it wasn't going to let itself be hit again.

She was quickly getting the impression that this battle would be much more difficult than any other battle she had undertaken.

With her shaking hands clutching at the hem of her slightly damp jacket, she really wished that Kit had come with her. She was unsure why she wanted his support so badly – they could barely be considered friends. But by this point, she was admittedly a little desperate.

She moved her mind away from Kit, focusing on creating a new battle plan. The tactic she had found works with Static was slowing down or paralysing her opponent's with her skills before zapping them into oblivion. So far, the strategy had worked pretty damn well.

"Go for maximum coverage with cotton spore!" she called with a sweeping gesture. With a curt bleat, she violently shuffled her fleece, releasing hundreds of spore-like cottons tufts into the air. A light as a feather, they drifted all throughout the arena, clinging to haunter's gaseous form. It seemed bothered by the things, frowning for a moment as it batted at them with its clawed hands.

"Curse, haunter," countered Morty. Charlotte grimaced as it used the same gruesome move as gastly did previously, hammering a nail into it's and Static's skulls. She shuddered with pain, her body quivering as she tried to stop herself from falling over.

Realising Morty was probably going to go for the same tactic he used to bring down Fang, Charlotte scrambled for ideas to counter it. She needed Static to stay awake since that would make haunter's attacks obsolete, but she wasn't sure how she was going to do that – hypnosis was not an easy thing to dodge. She knew usage of pokemon-held berries was legal in battles, but she had none on her at the moment.

"Arceus…," she muttered in a prayer-like fashion, eyes darting up towards the roof. "Static, just close your eyes," she sighed as she closed her own, tears building under her eyelids, clotting in her eyelashes. She couldn't see a way out of this.

Static wasn't about to take this from her trainer again. She turned towards her trainer, electrifying her without a second thought. Static singing her nerves, the girl's eyes fluttered open again, only to meet her furious pokemon's eyes.

Charlotte sighed and nodded at her pokemon, fighting against her defeatist attitude. That flaaffy's electricity must have sparked an idea in her brain, as her face lit up with excitement. "Static, clear your mind!" Both her pokemon and her opponent were confused by her command. Shooting her trainer an odd look, Static chose to do as she was told anyway, squeezing her eyes shut as she thought of the things closest to her heart: food.

"Hypnosis and dream eater combo," commanded Morty predictably, much to Charlotte's relief.

Hoping her plan worked, Charlotte focused as haunter enveloped her sheep pokemon in its engorged, jelly-like body. She grimaced in pain from both the effects of the curse and dream eater. Her outline became hazy as the ghost drew on the power of her dreams.

Unfortunately for haunter, Static wasn't a very livid dreamer. The sheep pokemon knew this but was aware that her trainer would have no idea of her dreaming habits. She tended to sleep lightly, never deep enough to have many dreams. Charlotte had the right idea – with a clear unconscious mind, there would be nothing for haunter to consume.

The haunter tried its hardest but simply found nothing worthwhile to devour, becoming confused. By chance, Static managed to wake up just as the ghost's hold began to loosen around her. In a brilliant flash of strobing yellow, blue and purple, flaaffy shocked the pokemon from the inside out.

To their relief, haunter fainted after the attack. Neither of them really had any other ideas beyond that – they would be screwed if the battle with haunter dragged onwards. With a congratulatory nod, Morty smirked as he sent out his final pokemon: gengar.

This ghost was by far the largest, standing at a good several inches taller than Charlotte with three times her girth. Its toothy grin was condescending and scathing, its bloodshot eyes drilling right into the deepest holds of the girl's soul. Cold dread trembled in her at the sight of it and at the remembrance of all the horrible folk stories about it.

Lucky for her, Static still had a substantial amount of health left. "Okay, we can do this," she said, trying to encourage herself. "Static let's t-," before she could even finish her sentence, Morty waved his hand towards gengar.

"Shadow ball," he said calmly.

"Dodge it! Or deflect it with your tail!" screamed Charlotte instead, realising there was no time to strategize as gengar wrenched open his mouth, revealing a long, coiled tongue and rows upon rows of disturbingly human-like teeth. With a low, echoing growl that was akin to thousands of angry whispers, a steadily growing orb of deep violet miasma.

Static's muscles locked into place, fully prepared to dodge the orb. That was until it got much too large for her to be able to dodge. Heart thundering in her chest, she quickly switched positions, charging the orb in her tail to deflect the ball with all her might.

Surprisingly quickly, gengar flung the orb at the sheep pokemon, hitting her right before she could strike it with her tail. The attack sent her skidding backwards, as the gas seemed to seep right through her chest. Her eyes and veins briefly flashed purple before she let loose a loud scream in pain, crumpling in a heap on the platform.

She had two pokemon left: a fighting type, and a normal type.

And neither of them knew moves that would be able to hit a ghost type.

She had lost.


	18. Ecruteak Gym P2

**Chapter Eighteen: Ecruteak Gym P2**

Charlotte was expecting to be more upset by her defeat. She then remembered that she had little reason to be completely depressed after such a loss since; after all, she had lost many battles before. She had lost against the head monk, and against many of the trainers she had run into on the road. In fact, she was proud that she hadn't lost a gym battle up to that point.

Sighing she slumped down beside Kit in front of the massive, flat screen television in the lobby of the pokemon centre. A sleepy Nightshade rested his head in his lap. He stroked his neck absentmindedly as he glued his eyes to the cartoon playing on the screen.

"You lost didn't you?" he asked her, casting a sidewards glance. Her entire body drooped like a wilted flower, her eyes dull with disappointment. She was very easy to read.

"Yup," she huffed. "I really regret letting Athena forget the move foresight now." If she still knew that move, there was a chance she would have at least been able to damage the gengar a bit before she was wiped out, thus allowing her to formulate any plans or discover some weaknesses in the pokemon's offense and defence.

"Well there aren't any move tutors and remainders around here so I guess you're screwed," he chuckled. Charlotte scowled at him, wondering why he was poking fun at her defeat. She bit into her hamburger she had just bought, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of miltank beef as she stared at the cartoon's mindless antics.

"I'm going to try again tomorrow," she said after a short while.

"You do that," he sighed. "But you better hurry up and win because I don't care enough about you to wait around for days in the same place. Three days is my limit," he explained with a wide yawn. Charlotte's heart clenched in her chest – she didn't want him abandoning her. She didn't mind travelling with him at all and would much rather have him around than be alone with just her pokemon for company again.

"I've been waiting around for Nightshade to get better today," he went on. "I'll be out making money tomorrow. I bet I can scam some suckers."

"What? How?" Charlotte asked, trying to get her mind of her loss. He raised a pointer finger to the slit in his mask where his lips lay behind.

"Ninja's can't give their secrets away," he said in pride, causing her to giggle a little forcedly. She just hoped he didn't turn back to stealing or any other illegal activities. In spite of his best wishes, Kit found himself unable to keep back a smile. "Hey it's true!"

It turns out Kit was simply planning on challenging lots of trainers that came to the pokemon centre, which Charlotte was earnestly surprised by. He promised her that his afternoon plans weren't nearly so benign but she was having a hard time believing him.

After spending the majority of the day after her defeat training and scheming, she returned to Ecruteak gym for a rematch. She had actually managed to find a travelling move tutor during her training with Kit that morning, who agreed to get Athena to remember her foresight for a small fee.

She had also purchased some chesto berries, which she handed out to each one of the pokemon she wanted to battle with so that they would be able to consume them and prevent them from falling victim to haunter's sleep-attacks. She had also done some target practice, which she hoped would enable them to hit the gaseous, nimble pokemon with more accuracy.

Her ideas worked for the first couple of Morty's pokemon. She managed to get through them calmer and more focused than the first round as well, bolstering her confidence. However, said confidence was only crushed when her last two chosen pokemon were obliterated by gengar's shadow ball. Even with Athena's aid, all was for nought when that thing hit. It took nearly all of their will to fight in a single blow – she had never seen anything like it.

At dusk, she returned to her pokemon centre room bitter and weary, burying her face into her pillow. She clasped it tightly to her face, restricting her flow of oxygen. She couldn't tell her mother about this, not until she actually beat Morty and his stupid ghosts. But she was quickly loosing hope that she would be able to do that.

Sunnyside, sensing her sadness and being the only pokemon that wasn't currently being healed up downstairs, he nuzzled up and under her arm, making concerned, clucking noises. Without looking up, she petted his spiky head. She wished he could help her – but normal type moves can't do a thing against ghost types.

Kit was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth when he heard her come in. He clasped his tooth brush between his teeth as he walked over to her bedside.

"Man you suck more at battling than I thought," he snorted. He saw her back shudder as she emitted a muffled sob, prompting him to roll his eyes and wander back into the bathroom, spitting out his toothbrush and rinsing out his mouth.

He didn't know what to do in a situation like this. He had lost more than she ever has – not just pokemon battles, too. A loss was a loss and he wasn't going to get messed up about it: ever. But Charlotte, every defeat meant something to her and he simply couldn't figure out why.

He stared at his weary expression in the bathroom mirror, ocean blue eyes staring right back at him. For a moment, he considered doing something to cheer her up. He quickly shook such a thought away – ninjas were meant to be solitary and stoic, not some pushover to a girl and her stupid tears.

Heading back into the bedroom his gaze fell upon the pokeballs resting on his bedside table. He narrowed his eyes, hating himself for what he was about to do.

"I caught a gastly today," he mentioned offhandedly. She turned to the side slightly, one grey eye staring out at him. She didn't seem too impressed.

"Why would you want one of those?" she huffed. "They're mean." She mushed her face back into the pillow again, unable to stop the replaying memories of their twisted grins and vicious attacks against her eyelids. All she could see was that cold, steel nail embedding itself in her poor pokemon's skulls.

"Well Zombie isn't," he sighed. "He has a gentle nature – what kind of ghost has a gentle nature!" he exclaimed in frustration, throwing his arms up in the air. Slowly, the girl pushed herself up into a sitting position, cuddling Sunnyside. He looked right into her shiny, blue-grey eyes, noticing how bloodshot they were. Realising that she was looking into his eyes too, he looked away, fighting back an unexplainable blush.

"I…I need to evolve him so throw everything you got at him tomorrow or something," he said quickly, like ripping off a Band-Aid. He looked back in time to notice a small, tired smile quirk her lips.

"Okay, Kit," she yawned as she slipped out of bed, heading downstairs to collect her pokemon for bedtime. She felt a little more hopeful now – if she had a willing opponent to practice against, then she surely would discover some better tactics or moves to use – or anything, really.

The next day's training did wonders for Charlotte's team. All of them, save for Sunnyside, reached ARS level twenty-eight, learning a couple more moves in the process. Kit's gastly evolved into a haunter like he had wished. He actually seemed really happy about having a haunter, making Charlotte wonder why he was so excited about it.

Just like the day previous, after training in the pokemon centre's courtyard, she headed back to the gym. By this point, Morty was wondering why she was coming back so quickly after each defeat – telling her that she needed more time to practice and refine before trying again. Charlotte wasn't patient enough to do that.

This may have been why she lost once again, despite her training with Kit, despite her pokemon taking down Morty's gastly and haunter without breaking a sweat, despite her carefully formulated plan to dodge gengar's attacks – none of it worked. All three of her chosen pokemon managed to do damage to gengar and Charlotte could have sworn it was close to fainting, but Athena simply wasn't fast enough to dodge another shadow ball.

Charlotte refused to get out of bed that morning. Each defeat had sapped away at her newfound confidence in battle, until it had finally left her with nothing after her third shameful defeat. She knew that she couldn't give up – otherwise she would never be able to become a ranger.

Maybe she wasn't brave enough to be a ranger, if she was letting defeats get to her so much. She let her pokemon do whatever they wished throughout the rest of the day, not wanting them to be cooped up in her air of moodiness.

Sunnyside stayed though, trying his hardest to cheer his trainer up, to little avail. Due to togepi's very nature of thriving off his trainer's happiness, he was feeling a lethargic without the brightness of Charlotte's smile.

Meanwhile, Kit practically tended to his own business – he had money to make. He wanted her to just hurry up and defeat the gym leader already – he was growing very impatient with hanging around in one place for so long.

He tapped at his wooden mask in thought as he sat outside the local pokemart, various items laid out in front of them. He had scavenged from around the city and the surrounding routes over the past four days, selling them for much more than they were worth. He had gotten a few takers so far, but was having less luck than he would have liked.

"This sucks," he muttered to Firebrand who was batting at a blade of grass beside him. "Stupid Charlotte, taking forever to take down one shitty ghost."

He didn't know why he was still sticking around with her. She did give him most of her battle winnings, which was a plus, and he was aware of how much prize money a trainer gets for defeating a gym leader. But in the end, he could still get money elsewhere, now that he had some decent pokemon to fight with.

Perhaps he just enjoyed her company. He snorted in disbelief at first; he began to actually think about it. She was naïve, stupid, tactless and clumsy but she was nice to him, he supposed – nicer than she should be to anyone. She stayed with him – she was actually loyal to him, but for what reason?

She confused him.

Since thinking so hard about it was making his head hurt, he chose to focus, instead, on a battle which was taking place before him. There were two kids, about two years younger than him, facing off against one another with a clefairy and a gastly. Kit sneered at the clefairy boy – what an idiot, taking on a ghost type with a normal type. Not even Charlotte was stupid enough to do that.

With little else to do, he absentmindedly stared at the proceedings, uninspired. That was until the boy with the clefairy called for it to use metronome. As it waggled its finger, Kit fully expected the attack to do absolutely nothing to the ghost.

Then small meteors began to rain from the cloudy skies.

"What the hell?" Kit exclaimed as one landed just an inch away from his wares. He flicked his gaze back towards the battle just as a meteor squashed the gastly with a loud squeal, followed by a pop similar to that of a balloon. A purple haze floated around the bottom of the rock, the creature trapped under it making no move to free itself.

The clefairy boy laughed as Kit was struck with utter disbelief at the sight. "Draco meteor! This is what you get for doubting Moonstone here!"

"You must have cheated! I had a sucker punch attack in mind this isn't fair!" complained his opponent. Their banter continued, lost on Kit as he swept up his wares, rolling them up in the blanket he had set them down on.

"Firebrand!" he called to his pokemon as he sprinted back towards the pokemon centre, his footsteps falling heavily on the wet pavement.

He skidded into their rented room, almost falling into Charlotte's bed as he violently shook her awake. "Carrot, metronome works on ghosts!" She rubbed her bloodshot eyes groggily, completely unaware of what he was yelling about. Once she focused on the wooden grain of his mask, and the sound of his ragged breathing, she finally processed what he had said.

"W-wait so…Sunnyside could actually fight?" she gasped, eyes widening at the thought. All the while she could have been using him as back up. It was then that she realised something else. "Oh my Arceus! And ghost type moves can't touch him either!" Kit missed that little fact, a grin twisting his lips beneath his mask.

"Yeah so hurry and get out of bed I want that cash prize!" he exclaimed excitedly as he threw her jacket at her, along with her backpack. He rushed to the doorway, calling out the names of her pokemon, before retrieving the rest of his own. Charlotte got to her feet, only to be hit with memories of her past three defeats.

"Kit…I-," she opened her mouth, about to say something indecisive when Kit interrupted her.

"Shut up," he snapped, prompting her to take a step back at the determination in his tone. "You are going to win with egg boy and you are going to give me half of the prize money so we can get the hell out of here!" She was caught so off-guard by his enthusiasm that she was a little frightened.

"Are you sure…? It's kind of pretty here with all the traditional buildings and lanterns and stuff," she muttered, changing the topic with a flicker of slyness in her eyes. Kit couldn't believe what he was hearing. She really wasn't motivated for this fight.

"Don't give me that shit," he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the door as she panicked, trying to slip her jacket on one-handedly. Sunnyside and Firebrand bounced along behind them. Charlotte soon had to pick her pokemon up though; otherwise he would just wander off.

"Kit stop swearing!" she exclaimed pointlessly.

Tiny droplets of rain hit the hoods of their jackets as they ran across the damp streets towards the gym. Dark clouds swirled in the sky, the deep roar of thunder being heard the distance. Charlotte jumped at the sound, but was too busy trying to keep up with Kit to focus on the incoming storm. The old-fashioned street lamps lit up, despite it being only mid-afternoon, casting warm light in the grey atmosphere.

They managed to reach the gym just as the heaven split open, releasing a deluge of water upon Ecruteak City. Wind whipped at the trees causing street and shop signs to clatter, and various pieces of trash to fly down the gutters. Rivulets of water carved their way through the slatted, clay rooves of the old buildings.

Panting, Charlotte and Kit arrived at the reception desk, signing up for another match.

It always took Charlotte a little while to navigate through the dark pathway through the gym. But with Kit's firm grip on her hand, he had no problem carving his way through the darkness, sprinting past the mystic séances taking place amongst the mediums. It was like he could see as well as a meowth in the dark – he knew where to place every step.

The battle was quick to begin. Adrenaline was already pumping through Charlotte's veins, keeping her wide awake and sharpening her fight or flight reactions. Just before Morty sent out his first pokemon once more, she wavered, a strong feeling of doubt washing over her once more.

She looked back at Kit, who looked like he was actually going to stay for the battle. She smiled at him nervously. Beneath his mask, she couldn't see him glare at her. "You'll do fine!" he shouted. "If not let's just leave without a badge!" Charlotte didn't want to do that. Sighing shakily, she gathered together the last scraps of her confidence and determination, metaphorically gluing it all back together, as took Morty on once more.

Gastly and haunter went down without a hitch. As always, Charlotte felt slighted under the intense glare of Morty's gengar. Kit yelled another passive aggressive piece of encouragement at her as she hesitated over her collection of pokeballs at her waist. She gulped back a ball of spit as she began to sweat with worry.

She chose to go with Fang and Athena at first, hoping to get them to last as long as possible and make good use of their respective dark type moves. She really hoped this was the last time they were defeated for a while – she couldn't bear to see them suffer from any more battle wounds.

Fang came into battle with his teeth gritted and his claws raised. He was as fed up with his trainer and wanted to get this over with quickly. Each time he looked that ghost in the eyes, he got angrier and angrier with it – he couldn't help but feel weak in its presence, considering it had managed to bring him down easily time and time again.

He wished that he could just evolve and snap the thing up in his massive jaws with a devastating crunch attack, but he knew it simply wasn't at that level yet. Predicting his trainer's commands, he opened his jaws in advance, teeth glowing whiter as he strengthened his jaws, ready for a bite attack.

Waiting for the right moment, he careened past a wayward shadow ball by slipping right off the side of the platform, clinging onto the wood with his claws. He grinned as he heard his trainer call out his name in shock, only to see him swing his heavy body back up onto the platform moments later. Realising that this was all part of his plan, Charlotte grinned.

"The downside to continuously rechallenging me like you have," began Morty with a sigh, "is that I can't fight you as fairly as I would like – I know how you fight, and I know how to counter it." Charlotte gritted her teeth together though she remained calm, knowing that she had a secret weapon up her sleeve. But Morty's words meant that Fang was in significant danger.

Fang needed to get up close to use bite, which Morty knew well by now. Therefore, he was certainly going to make gengar keep his distance. She thought for a moment as Fang narrowly dodged another shadow ball using the same method he did before. Gengar was infuriated by that, daring to float closer to him as he readied another. Fang quickly flipped himself back onto the platform, too close to the cryptid to avoid it.

"Fang use water gun to propel upwards!" Charlotte called. Relieved at her revelation, Fang fire a beam of water directly at his feet, pushing himself into the air like a geyser, just managing to miss the shadow ball. Jaws wide open; Fang took this opportunity to clamp his jaws around gengar's strange form. Lucky for the ghost, it threw up its arm just in time, reducing the damage of the attack as Fang's teeth sunk into its form like butter.

To Charlotte and Fang's dismay, gengar clamped his other hand down onto Fang's head, preventing him from freeing himself. Morty called for it to use shadow ball – an attack that hit the croconaw right in the face, causing him to fly backwards and smack his spine against one of the lantern poles. The light flickered wildly at the impact, only to stabilise as Charlotte returned her fainted pokemon.

She apologised to him softly. He had managed to do some damage, that was all she had asked of him. She sent out Athena next. A cold glare hit her as she locked gazes with the fighting type pokemon. Athena was not taking the constant abuse well – apart from the kindness of her trainer, the constant brutal battling was not far removed from her time as a lab rat.

She wanted nothing more than to leave the battle but she knew she couldn't – she was bonded to her trainer through the power of that pokeball. She hated this – she was tired of fighting for her life just to appease the whims of her overseers. Tears stung her eyes as she looked away from Charlotte, who gazed at the machop's back solemnly. She wasn't sure how she would ever make it up to her.

"Sucker punch," called Morty, hoping that would do it, since the pokemon was at fairly low health after her battle with haunter. In the blink of an eye, gengar materialized behind the young pokemon, striking her right in the small of her back before she had a chance to react. She fell flat on her face, picking herself up almost immediately, glaring ferociously at the blob of grinning evil.

Her eyes glowed as she used foresight without her trainer's consent, identifying the weaknesses in gengar's form that could be struck by her fighting type moves. She lurched forwards, toes tapping on the wooden planks as she countered gengar with a surprise revenge assault.

The ghost pokemon dodged just in time, her body just managing to brush past it without doing any damage. "Hypnosis," Morty called, prompting gengar's bloodshot eyes to swirl. Swiftly, the machop squeezed her eyes closed, negating the effects of the attack.

"Keep it up and use shadow ball – it's got to open its eyes at one point," Morty hypothesised. With a gurgling chuckle that grated on Athena's ears, she heard the wild whispering noise that accompanied the formation of gengar's shadow balls. Charlotte scrambled for something to help her pokemon, her mind drawing a complete blank.

"Carrot!" yelled Kit, Charlotte's gaze snapping towards him. "Be her eyes, dummy!"

He was right. Immediately, Charlotte got to work guiding the agile pokemon around the arena, telling her where and when to dodge. However, it didn't work for long, as gengar's attacks grew larger and quicker in succession.

"Athena, you need to get in a knock off attack between gengar's shadow balls!" Blinking twice at her trainer's command, Athena narrowly dodged yet another orb. Both she and Charlotte knew that throwing herself at gengar right now would be self-sacrifice – a sacrifice just so she could bring her damn togepi into it.

She didn't want to put herself in harm's way on purpose, but she did want to get out of this merciless fight. Blinking back unshed tears in her ruby-red eyes, she pried her eyes open, being met face-to-face with gengar's hypnosis attack, instantly making her feel wary. Fortunately for her, she fought through it long enough to slam her fist down onto gengar's head in her best knock off attack, right before being hit in the guy with a shadow ball.

Before her body even touched the ground, Charlotte returned her to the safety of her pokeball. Guilt ran rancid through her veins as she kissed the top of the ball, apologising to the wounded creature. Steeling herself, she locked eyes with Morty as he swept his arms apart.

"Well, again, you have conceded defeat," he sighed with a hint of annoyance. Charlotte couldn't hold back the slightest of smirks as she shook her head, unhooking Sunnyside's pokeball. She gazed at it for a few moments, uttering a few words of encouragement, before sending him out onto the scene.

The pokemon, being young and naïve in the face of serious battles, chirped cheerily, not nearly as frightened or even perturbed by the towering figure of the gengar before it. She watched Morty's gaze flicker with surprise, then irritancy. "A normal type, I see," he noted. "You do realise you have no advantage here, right?" Charlotte nodded deceivingly.

"Gengar, sucker punch," called Morty, knowing that it was the only move that would work against a normal type without the use of identifying moves.

"Take it," called Charlotte, having prepared for this. Sunnyside was slow, much slower than gengar, but only due to his stubby legs. But his hard shell provided brilliant physical defence. With an affirming cluck, it curled up into its shell, just as gengar slammed its fist into it. It left a small mark on the shell, but ultimately, Sunnyside was unscathed.

Morty grimaced. He glared at his ghost pokemon, who glared back at him with just as much intensity. It was then that Morty noticed the fatigue etched into its face – her totodile and machop had done significant damage to it. He doubted the little normal type would win though – he just needed to stay calm and put it to sleep.

"Hypnosis," he said.

"Yawn," answered Charlotte with a similar move. Gengar's eyes swirled, boring deep into the togepi's own eyes. Meanwhile, Sunnyside opened his small mouth and yawned, little tears pricking the corner of his eyes.

With a slump, he fell backwards, blissfully asleep. Charlotte knew her little baby would be unable to fight for the next few turns, but she knew that shell of his was strong enough to take the brunt of the damage. Morty instructed his pokemon to hit Sunnyside with a barrage of sucker punches, causing the girl to wince with each hit, feeling guiltier.

Sunnyside's normally cheery face turned to grimaces of pain as it slowly became conscious and aware of the punches walloping his tiny body. Gengar's fists began to move so fast that Charlotte could barely see them, only hearing the impact.

As soon as Charlotte noticed gengar's eyelids growing heavy, and his movements finally starting to slow, she began her counter-attack. "Metronome!" she shouted, like she was asking Arceus to come down from the heavens and bestow some game-breaking move upon her little pokemon.

Snapping awake, Sunnyside scrambled to his feet, waggling his stubby arm in the air. His body glowed with a faint white as his eyes went blank, losing all sense of self. He turned towards the sleeping form of the gengar, mouth agape.

With a sound akin to the roar of an angry dragonite, a purple beam of roughly gathered light shot out of his mouth, sending him flying backwards and into Charlotte's arms, missing. She braced him as the pokemon readjusted the beam, managing to use the last of it to damage gengar in his sleep. Charlotte would have breathed a sigh of relief if the ghost's eyes hadn't snapped open just as the purple afterglow of dragon rage faded away.

She set Sunnyside down; licking her dry lips as she nervously glanced up at Morty, anticipating his next more. He looked conflicted as he stroked his chin with his thumb and forefinger, as if he had a beard. All was eerily silent for a few moments as he stared intently at Sunnyside.

"Gengar, I think it's time we used that new tactic," he said softly to the ghost pokemon. Impossibly, its grin stretched wider, its body tilting to the side as it gazed condescendingly at Sunnyside. Charlotte, painfully surprised, watched gengar closely, knowing that whatever Morty had in mind was sinister and unfamiliar.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte, but I just can't let you keep battling me like this," groaned Morty, adjusting his scarf as he locked eyes with the girl. "Once you lose, I don't want to see you again until you have expanded your team with some real opponents." Her heart stung as if she had been struck with tiny needles, she took a deep breath, pursing her lips together.

"Sunnyside, I think it's time that we use our secret weapon too," she said. For once, slight concern darted across the egg pokemon's face. Kit raised an eyebrow as he bit back a comment. Had she been hiding things from him? Things that could have helped her win this battle much sooner? If so, she was in so much trouble. A faint purple haze began to glow around the pokemon as he and his trainer braced themselves for whatever was next.

"Possession!" yelled Morty. In a puff of purple smoke, the creature teleported forwards, standing right in front of Sunnyside. With a chuckle of demented laughter, the pokemon moved right into Sunnyside, disappearing within his body. Charlotte's mouth dropped open as she struggled to comprehend what was happening.

"That's cheating!" yelled Kit all of a sudden. "That's not a league recognised rule!" Charlotte glanced at him, distantly surprised that he would even know what the league recognised rules were. She wondered why he would even care – he broke the rules himself. However, she didn't have time to question him, or Morty, as she watched a sinister red glow wash over Sunnyside's eyes.

"Crush him," commanded the gym leader with a blunt, heartless tone. "I know this move isn't legal, but this is my gym – I can do as I wish."

Struggling against the grasp of gengar, Sunnyside took shaking steps to and fro, sweat beading on his velvet forehead. His little arms waggled as he teetered back and forth, face screwed up in pain. Surround sounds seemed to disappear as Charlotte tuned in entirely to the struggles of her pokemon. She could barely hear on own voice pleading with him to keep fighting against him.

Distantly, she heard Morty call out another attack for his gengar, though she could not determine which one. A purple miasma seemed to steam out of Sunnyside's shell as his movements became more erratic and desperate. Tears streamed down his chubby cheeks, disappearing with his shell as he locked eyes with his trainer, pleading with her non-verbally, to do something to save him.

Clenching her fists, Charlotte hissed through her teeth. Morty was going to have to pay for this – he was breaking both the rules, and her pokemon; she could not forgive that so readily. Little did he know, she did have one last move up her sleeve, though she was very uncomfortable with using it.

She knew that this move would likely mean the difference between her defeat and the defeat of her opponent but she knew from the couple times she had coerced Sunnyside into using it, that it was not a move that the little togepi was able to handle yet. The kind of move he had was generally reserved for more powerful, experienced pokemon – yet he was born with it.

She cast a glance towards Kit. She could not tell how he was feeling, but his body was rigid and tense. She turned back towards the battle, muttering a silent prayer in hope of appeasing whoever was in control of fate in battle. "Extrasensory, please, Sunnyside," she yelled stridently, hoping that the egg pokemon would be able to hear her. She heard Kit inhale a sharp breath as Sunnyside stopped in his place, eyes wide and shaking like jelly.

"Please, Sunnyside. I know this move knocked you out the last time we did it in practice – but a psychic type move is the only thing that is going to put gengar down," she explained, locking eyes with her pokemon. The usual cheeky joy in his eyes was washed out with a blank bleakness that made her incredibly uncomfortable. She wasn't sure what she could do to make it up to him after this. She muttered 'please' over and over again as the little pokemon began to struggle once more, a different tone of purple shimmering around his body. His face went as red as a tomato, just as the smirk was wiped off Morty's face.

The tension in the air thickened enough to be cut with a blunt knife. The air felt as if it was weighed down by moisture that clung to the skin and made the mind feel groggy and restless. Sunnyside's purple aura grew and grew as a sharp scream tore from his throat.

An explosion of magenta energy erupted from his body, kicking up a blast that was strong enough to topple both Charlotte and Morty over, the former skidding a couple feet towards the edge of the platform. Kit was quick to help her up, still clinging to her wrist as the purple aura was inked with trails of deep violet. With another short blast, the light simply disappeared.

Able to see clearly now, Charlotte assessed the scene, calling out Sunnyside's name. In the battlefield, stood both a gengar and a togepi, staring deeply into one another's eyes. Both swayed gently to and fro, looking as weary as a soldier trapped in the trenches of the cold war. Gengar's face was screwed up with malignant rage – if looks could kill, Charlotte would have to bury her togepi.

"Gengar, don't let that one attack make you fall," hissed Morty, "use sucker punch – togepi won't be able to move after that." Morty's order fell upon deaf ears. As if in slow motion, Charlotte watched the ghost take a single step forward, before falling soundlessly at Sunnyside's feet. Moments later, the egg pokemon toppled over with a thud – each of them were wiped out, certainly unable to continue.

There was a long silence. Kit slowly let go of Charlotte's arm, staring at her out of the corner of his eye. Sunnyside had that move the whole time and she didn't bother telling him? That battle would have been a cinch if they had used it earlier. So why hadn't they? However, the swell of anger within him with overpowered by the feeling of relief and victory within him, which he knew he shared with Charlotte.

Smiling softly and wearily, Charlotte stepped onto the battlefield, scooping up the little pokemon in her arms. Gingerly, she kissed each one of his closed eyelids, before glaring up at Morty expectantly. With a heavy groan, the gym leader dug into his pocket, retrieving a badge as purple as his gengar. He tossed the badge to her, which she fumbled to catch. He also tossed her a coin pouch, which she missed entirely. Kit was the one who picked it up, pocketing it.

"You deserve that badge," he said simply, nonchalantly, as he brushed past her, returning his gengar to its pokeball. Charlotte turned to see where he was off to, only to find that he was already gone.


	19. Victories and Bells

_**[A/N: Thank you very much WyldClaw for all of your lovely reviews! They mean a lot to me :D]**_

 **Chapter Nineteen: Victories and Bells**

Charlotte and Kit lingered around the front desk of the pokemon centre, Charlotte thinking of nothing but the health of her pokemon. The nurse had told her that of all her pokemon, Sunnyside had the most serious injuries. Gengar must have been tearing him up from the inside – some of his organs had been ruptured, causing extensive internal bleeding. The nurse had told Charlotte that the togepi would be alright, but Kit could see the doubt in her eyes.

Charlotte, however, was none the wiser and hoped that she would have her pokemon returned to her soon. She paced back and forth along the counter, making Kit anxious.

"Hey," he called, snapping her out of her trance. "They will be fine, stop being weird." He remarked. He tapped the pocket on his pants, coins jangling at his touch. "With all that money I got, we can get ourselves a good meal. How about it?" She was slow to answer, worry etched into her freckled features.

"Kit, I have to stay here a-," Kit interrupted her.

"No, come on, I'm starving. And I have a few things I need to talk to you about," he pushed. Sighing, Charlotte placed a hand on her gut, feeling the gurgling swish of empty stomach acid. She relented, nodding gently. A hidden grin stretched Kit's lips as the pair left the pokemon centre, heading down the road towards a restaurant that had caught Kit's eye earlier that day.

During Charlotte's battle, the sky had cleared up somewhat, though a steady mist of rain still came from above, dampening their coats. Charlotte felt unprotected and anxious without the company of her pokemon, despite assuring herself that if anything came up, Kit and Firebrand could protect her. She glanced down at the fox pokemon, who clung to Kit's legs, looking irritated due to the unpleasant weather.

They jumped from one streetlamp halo to the next, in a semi-awkward silence.

"Charlotte," began Kit as the restaurant began to appear on the horizon, complete with his brown tiled roof and dark-tinted windows. "Why didn't you use extrasensory earlier? You can't be dumb enough to think that gengar isn't weak to psychic type attacks, right?" It took Charlotte a couple moments to answer. She kicked a rock to the side.

"A couple of days ago, when you were off making money, Sunnyside and I were training," she began to explain softly. Her words were often drowned out by the roar of vehicles on the road beside them, so Kit had to move closer to hear her. "I thought I would get Sunnyside to use that one move we hadn't used before. I have seen it used on television – I knew how powerful it was and that it would likely fell half of Morty's pokemon."

"But you didn't use it?" urged Kit, wanting her to just get to the point.

"No," she said curtly. "Because that one time I got him to use it, he took out all the trees in a ten metre radius of himself, knocking both me and him out." Kit raised his eyebrows – why hadn't she told him about that? That would explain the extra bruises he had noticed on her arms and legs. "I woke up around twenty minutes later. Sunnyside didn't wake up until the next day."

She looked him dead in the eyes and said. "It was awesome, but I don't think it's right to make him use a move like that so young – he can't control it."

Kit rolled his eyes. If she paid less mind to the health of her pokemon, she would get a lot more things done. Then again, he could understand why she didn't – he wouldn't let his pokemon use moves that risky either. He opened his mouth to criticise her, but realised he would sound hypocritical.

"Do you think he could handle it when he evolves?" asked Kit instead, the words falling off the tip of his tongue without any thought.

"Sure," she chirped. "He isn't weak – I have faith in him," she smiled as they arrived at the restaurant, strolling through the electronic glass doors and into the heated diner.

Charlotte glanced around, taking note of how busy it was – she couldn't see a single table free. There was a buzz of chatter around her as she followed Kit to the counter. Overwhelmed by the busy atmosphere, she fiddled with the zipper on her jacket as she focused too hard on the menu. Her mouth dropped open at the prices.

"Kit, we don't have enough money for this," she whispered just loud enough for him to be heard.

"Yeah we do," he said. Charlotte could hear the smirk in his voice as he set down the heavy bag of coins Morty had tossed them half an hour prior. The girl was surprised by this – Kit was a cheapskate, why would he be spending all this money? She opened her mouth to ask him why but he had already begun to answer her.

"Don't say anything," he muttered sheepishly. "I think we deserve this treat, okay?" A secretive smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she bobbed her head in acknowledgment.

They were showed to their seat – a cosy booth at the very back of the restaurant near the double steel doors to the kitchen. Kit did most of the talking as they ordered their food. He ordered a massive bowel of five-star spaghetti Bolognese with a heaping dose of miltank cheese, tomago sauce and tauros beef. Charlotte, on the other hand, ordered fried magikarp coated in beer batter with a side of octillery calamari and chips. They both ordered a stack of ice-cream and waffles for desert, their meal complete with two large milkshakes.

While they waited for their food, Kit fumbled noisily around in his backpack for something. Curious, Charlotte stroked Firebrand's ears absentmindedly, craning her neck to try and see what he was doing. With a loud 'aha' he drew out something small from the very depths of his backpack, placing it down on the middle of the table proudly.

It took Charlotte a few moments to process what it was. It was a stack of training manuals. Intrigued, she watched as Kit went through all the disks. "Shadowball, thief, payback, dark pulse, poison jab – I wanted more ghost type ones but I had to skedaddle before I got caught." Charlotte's face fell.

"These are great and they will probably help us with future ghost fights but…you stole these didn't you?" she said. It was more of a statement than a question. Kit pressed his palms flat against the table as he clicked his tongue. Firebrand trotted towards him at his call. He stroked her soft, warm fur as he glared at Charlotte.

"Morty was a dick," he said, causing her expression to flicker. "No, I'm not going to mind my language. I stole from the cheater."

"That makes you just as bad, you know that," argued Charlotte desperately.

"These will help us, you admitted it. And it's not like Morty can't get any more – they are probably cheap for him. I could sell the ones we don't use too – come on Charlotte," he urged. Charlotte sighed heavily, letting her head fall to the table with a thud. She mumbled something inaudible before raising her head slightly, a red mark visible on her forehead.

"I'm going to have to tie bells to your wrists," she said. Confused, Kit put the TMs back into his bag before Charlotte could lurch out at them and return them to their rightful owner. She dug around in her own backpack for a few moments, before pulling out two pairs of bells.

"No," he said simply. "Don't tie those on my wrists. I'll look dumb and I won't be able to sneak around." He shuffled as far away from her as the cramped booth would allow him.

"This if for your own good and others," she said as she leaned across the table, grabbing hold of Kit's wrists. She actually felt him shudder at her touch, his body freezing up as if he was hit by an ice beam. His hands were cold. Her face heated up as she awkwardly tied the bells onto his wrists, her hands trembling somewhat. The action felt like it took a lot longer than it actually did.

He withdrew from her as quickly as possible, as if he had been shocked by electricity. He stared dumbly at his wrists. He flicked them once, a tinkling sound echoing around the booth, muffled by the chatter of the restaurant rabble. Charlotte could feel the burn of his glower beneath his mask.

"They move when I do anything!" he yelled in annoyance, waving his arms around in the air. The bells jangled in agreeance, causing Charlotte to stifle a giggle with the back of her hand. She felt his glare intensify. With jerky, irritated movements, he tried to untie the knots, only to find he couldn't.

"Damn it," he swore, sinking down into the red leather chair so far that only a few wisps of his sandy hair were visible over the table. She couldn't help but smile at his obstinate attitude. She made sure those knots were so convoluted that not even she could untie them.

He soon perked up though, once he caught whiff of his dinner.

They returned to a scarcely populated pokemon centre. A few lone trainers milled around here and there, all of them carrying bags under their eyes. Charlotte retrieved her healed pokemon, being advised to keep them out of battles for the next couple of days just to assure that they didn't make their injuries worse. She counted the pokeballs, only to find that Sunnyside's was missing.

"He will have to stay here throughout the night, probably tomorrow too," explained the nurse, prompting a surge of anxiety within the young trainer. She lowered her head, sighed a juddering breath, and nodded. Kit, irritated by her defeatist attitude, drew her over to the sofa, tossing the remote at her. He slumped down beside her, sending her a sidelong glance.

"Watch something before bed. I don't want you being all restless and keeping me awake," he said gruffly. Charlotte smiled at the gesture, remembering that her favourite show was airing that night: _Aura Tails_. She flipped over to it, her smile growing broader as she caught sight of the famous ranger Cassius and his prized lucario. She had been watching this show for over a year now, never failing to miss an episode. She looked up to Cassius more than she looked up to her own mother – he was the embodiment of the person she wanted to be: brave, strong, courageous, and the best ranger known to the pokemon world.

The plot of that night's episode was that Cassius had fallen upon a cult of criminals who were planning to build a machine that had enough power to blow up the entirety of Union HQ. The criminals specialised in dark types, which Kit pointed out numerous times. Charlotte ignored him until he brought it up the fifth time, to which she said:

"Shhh," she hissed. "Why do you keep pointing that out?"

"You need a dark type pokemon," he revealed. "If you're going to have that much trouble fighting ghosts than you need an advantage." Charlotte agreed with him completely – with her lack of skill and fondness surrounding ghost types, a dark type pokemon would certainly lend a hand. She nodded slowly, failing to give a proper answer as she was too focused on the screen.

Rolling his midnight blue eyes, he drove a hand into the side pocket of her backpack, where he knew her pokedex to be. He switched it on, scrolling through the lists of Johto pokemon, searching for a decent dark type pokemon. He wouldn't mind catching one for himself. He read out the list of dark type pokemon under his breath.

"Umbreon, murkrow, hunchkrow, houndour, houndoom, sneasel, weavile…that's it?" he exclaimed, frustrated. "I mean…I guess houndour and sneasel are alright. But I can't catch either of them in Johto." Charlotte leaned over, her show now finished. Her shoulder brushed against his, causing him to toss her the pokedex so she wouldn't lean on him.

"Oh!" she chirped. "How about umbreon?"

"Umbreon is weak as butt," he scoffed. Charlotte scowled, the dark, weary shadows under her eyes deepening. "What about murkrow or something? Wait…I think you can't get those here too."

"Maybe the geisha girls will let us have an eevee?" Charlotte inquired. Kit shook his head.

"I'm not going back there and I'm pretty sure the pet store sells them too. Also what do you mean 'we'," he refuted.

"O-oh…," Charlotte said meekly, looking away from him, focusing on the blank screen. "Cause…w-we're a team…" she muttered softly. Kit blinked in surprise, taken aback for a few moments. He then burst into almost hysterical laughter, clutching at his gut. Heat rose in the girl's cheeks as she felt slighted by his mockery. She scooped up her backpack, getting to her feet.

Her voice cracked as she spoke to him. "I'm going to get my pokemon and me ready for bed. Goodnight Kit," she said curtly, turning her back on him. His laughter only began to cease as she ascended the stairs to the guest rooms, fighting back tears. And she had thought that she had a friend in him – perhaps she was wrong.

Once she was out of earshot, Kit clutched at his aching belly, face falling. Almost forcedly, he whispered, "Ninjas aren't supposed to have friends like you, Charlotte."

Charlotte slept in that morning, which she had not expected. Stirring groggily from her slumber, she got her and her pokemon ready for the day. From her bed, she cast her gaze towards Kit's steadily rising and falling form, his mask once again discarded on the bedside table. She stared for a few long moments at his face, before getting up to write him a memo detailing where she would be that day, and that they should meet up that afternoon in front of the dance theatre to decide where they would travel next.

She chose to walk around with Athena, since she felt horrible for treating her like a training dummy during the gym battle with Morty. The pokemon seemed deeply bothered by Charlotte's presence, glaring at her as coldly as the brisk Ecruteak air. During breakfast, Charlotte had treated her to her favourite food, which she refused to touch. Her ribs were even more visible through her skin than usual.

Charlotte didn't know what to do.

Athena trailed some distance behind her, dragging her feet, jumping at the barks and chirps of the other pokemon around her. Her trainer may have given her food and lodgings but she still insisted on forcing her to fight other pokemon. Her skin tingled with the ghosts of past injuries. She scratched at her skin but still, they persisted, biting at her. It was driving her insane.

The humble, self-depreciating side of Charlotte's psyche made her blame herself for her pokemon's behaviour. But deep down, she knew it wasn't her fault.

It was the Spore Initiative who had done this to her.

Charlotte had been to a pokemon pet store a few times in the past. Pet stores were used by people who didn't wish to train pokemon – who would rather keep them as household companions, or as a friend for their children. Pet store pokemon were specifically bred for loyalty, looks and mild natures. They were not battling pokemon, but Charlotte, in her naivety, had always believed that if she trained them hard enough, they would be just as fantastic battlers as any other pokemon.

Blue-grey eyes brimming with excitement, she scanned the glass windows, taking a look at each and every pokemon behind them. They supplied numerous pokemon such as sentret, cleffa, igglybuff, goldeen, growlithe, vulpix, meowth – all tame and looking for an owner. Charlotte, prying herself away from the sentret display, headed towards the set of glass enclosures labelled with 'eevee.'

Her lips parted as a soft sigh of adoration hissed through her teeth. All three eevee laid their eyes upon her for a few moments, before returning to their play fighting, yipping at each other and rolling around. Their brown fur, soft and messy, shimmered in the light, their wet noses snuffing as they smelled the air. Their eyes varied from shades of brown to purple, gleaming with the innocence of youth. She pressed her petite hands against the glass, trying to figure out which eevee was to be hers to take with her on her journey.

She watched a pair of eevee tumble into a nearby pile of pillows, one of them firmly gnawing on the other's ear. The victim squeaked and tackled its opponent to the soft carpet flooring of the pen. In response, the pokemon rolled onto its back, waggling its arms and legs in the air submissively.

Athena gingerly stepped up to her trainer's side. She stood on her tippy toes, trying to see what all the fuss was about. She tracked Charlotte's gaze, her eyes meeting the dark violet eyes of the eevee rolling around on its back. A flash of memory hit her consciousness – a myriad of eevee faces swam through her mind.

Eevee was prized by pokemon experimenters. Suddenly the sounds of the shuffling and yapping of the pokemon behind the glass was too much for her. She withdrew from the pen, heading straight for the door. Charlotte did not notice her as she slumped down beside the door, waiting for her so called caregiver to leave.

Too shy to simply call out to the young man at the counter, Charlotte cautiously approached him. "I-I want a-an eevee," she stuttered. She pointed towards the one she wanted, prompting the man to crane his neck. He smiled warmly and professionally at her.

"Sure," he agreed. "I'll go get him for you."

Things seemed to move in slow motion as he lifted the small, wiggling pokemon out of the pen, placing him in her arms. She cuddled him close, burying her nose into his sandy brown fur. She listened to his little heart beat rapidly in his ribcage with excitement.

"Moonlight," she whispered to him so only he could hear. "I'm going to make you into the strongest umbreon Johto has ever seen."

"She just…looks like she can't…," Charlotte trailed off, unable to find the words to express how she felt. She heard a crackle of static through the receiver as her mother sighed heavily.

"You should not have made her fight so soon after adopting her," she criticised firmly. "I don't think she will ever be able to trust you like your other pokemon do." Charlotte lowered her head to the damp sidewalk, before raising her gaze back up to her pokemon sitting on the bench beside her, kicking her legs, a distant look in her eyes. Charlotte could not fathom how sorry she was for her.

Stroking her new eevee's velvety ears, she sighed, sniffing back snot. Her heart beat dully in her chest as she was overcome with her feeling of sorrow and empathy. It was like Athena was holding her soul captive; trying to show it the horrible things she had seen. She didn't want her to suffer like this any longer.

If things got any worse, Charlotte decided that she would have to send Athena away to someone who would be able to take care of her better.

"What do I do?" the young trainer asked simply.

"You can't let her fight until she is ready," Janette began. "Only do what she is comfortable with. Forcing her to undergo more 'abuse' is the worst thing you could possibly do for her. You need to protect her, Charlotte."

"Like you did from the monsters under my bed when I was little?" asked the girl for confirmation.

"Exactly. Except her monsters are in her head and will not go away with hugs and kisses alone," her mother continued, trying to keep the concern out of her voice. Just where did she pick up such an abused pokemon before? She had experience with pokemon who had suffered at the hands of bad trainers, but she had a feeling this was something more.

"Do you think there is a chance I could make her feel better?" Charlotte asked weakly.

"Just don't put too much pressure on her. You have enough pokemon now that your team will be able to fight its battles without her until she is more comfortable with things," she confirmed. "Otherwise, send her to me; I'll take care of her."

"…Okay," Charlotte sighed disjointedly. "I'm thinking of giving her some soothing pokemon toys or accessories or something."

"That may help her relax, I'd try that," Janette agreed. A loud screech in the background followed by the braying of a stantler forced a sigh out of the woman. "I have to go, they have decided to try and spar in the living room again."

Unceremoniously, the line disconnected. The roaring of traffic on the wet streets filled the girl's ears, every other sound drowned out by the continuous drone. She let loose a disdainful groan as she withdrew a pair of bells from her bag – the last pair she had, since she had given the other two to Kit. Simultaneously, she withdrew a black belt. Gently, softly, she beckoned to Athena.

The pokemon's gaze snapped towards her defensively. Charlotte held out the items to her, palms open, trying to show her that they were for her and posed no danger to her wellbeing. There was a long moment where the abused pokemon simply stared dumbly at the girl, eyes burning. Charlotte glanced down at the items.

"This black belt increases the strength of fighting type moves," she coaxed. "And this sooth bell will help calm you down a little. Try them on – if you don't like them, I can take them off." While she spoke, she tied the bells to the belt, before holding the item out again. Gingerly, Athena picked up the belt, putting it on like a collar, managing to fasten it without aid. Charlotte let a small smile slip through as the pokemon tapped the bells, a soft jingling emanating from them.

The hostility in her face softened as she gave her trainer a small nod of recognition. She then looked down at the pet eevee in her lap, the pokemon staring up at her with cheer. To Charlotte's shock, the machop was not afraid to reach out and pet the thing. Athena ruffled the little fox's fur, prompting him to lick the tips of her fingers playfully. For once in a while, a smile stretched across her lips.

"Don't worry Athena," began Charlotte slowly. "You don't have to fight anymore. Not if you don't want to. I shouldn't have forced you to fight for my own gain." Athena's sternness returned to her face, but she gave another acknowledging nod. She then looked away from her trainer, spotting Kit's approaching form down the street. Charlotte returned Athena to her pokemon, taking a deep breath.

She wasn't too happy to see him again, if she was completely honest.


	20. Rival's Quarrel

Chapter Twenty: Rival's Quarrel

From Ecruteak, there were two possible routes for Charlotte and Kit to take – both would lead to a gym and further money making opportunities for Kit. They could head down to Olivine city by way of route 38 and 39 or they could take route 42 towards Mahogany Town, but have to pass through some bodies of water in the process.

Charlotte wanted to head towards Mahogany Town, since she was interested in taking a diving tour at the Lake of Rage due to a story her mother had told her about the place. Kit, however, was largely against the idea, and much preferred to head for Olivine City. He looked increasingly flustered as Charlotte began to press her case.

"Why don't you want to go back?" she asked confusedly. They still stood outside the pet store she had bought Moonlight at, their loud voices earning a couple wary glances from passing people. Kit hissed a sigh through his teeth, massaging his temples. He looked as if something had lodged itself deep within his brain, wiggling around and causing a great deal of pain. She could feel the pain in his eyes burn through his mask.

"Because my father forbade me from coming back until I had enough money for my intuition – he has enough to deal with, let alone his whiny, weak son," he said, his voice sounded dull, defeated, a stark contrast from the boastful confidence he usually threw around. Charlotte's argument was ripped from her throat as she stood down, squeezing her eyes closed as she nodded. She still really wanted to go see the Lake of Rage, but she didn't want to force Kit into doing anything he didn't want.

"H-how a-about," she stuttered, struggling to find the words to end the argument, "…we battle for it."

"What?" questioned Kit, his hands darting to his pokeball belt already. "Are you serious?"

"I'm sure they won't be upset to see you – they are your parents," she urged, inching towards the gate leading to Mahogany Town. This only seemed to make Kit more tense, his hand tightening around Firebrand's pokeball.

"You are too naïve, Carrot," he huffed. "Not everything is fucking sunshine and rainbows. Mummies and daddies don't always love their stupid kids."

"Kit!" the girl yelled, taken aback by his choice of words. "Why can't you just talk to me without resorting to mean language!"

"Because screw you!" screamed Kit, drawing more than a few irritated looks. Tears instantly welled in Charlotte's eyes as Kit glared down at her in disgust. An old woman passing by told him to quieten down, that he was scaring her. He shook her head at her. They were drawing quite the crowd now.

"Money is great but I don't think we can keep travelling like this if we resort to fighting over shit like this. You're just…too nice, Charlotte, I don't get it," he fumed, trailing off towards the end of his sentence, pushing away a lingering feeling of guilt. "I accept your offer, Charlotte. Let's fight. Except I want the odds to be a little different." The rage in Charlotte's pale face wavered for a moment.

She didn't want to lose Kit. He was mean to her at times, and that bothered her, but having some human company was better than none. She tightened her fists, nodding at her new eevee, instructing him to watch the battle so he could learn from it. He would need to fight on his own like her other pokemon soon. She unhooked Static's pokeball from her belt.

"If I win, I get to take most of your money and leave you to make your own decisions," he said. Charlotte's heart dropped to her toes. She would rather go to Olivine than have Kit and her money desert her like that. She opened her mouth, wanting to just give in to Kit's prior demands. A burst of red light appeared before her as Kit sent out his vulpix, prompting Charlotte to shut her mouth. A deep shudder of regret ran through her as she pressed the centre button of her pokeball, sending Static into battle.

A confidence always surged through Charlotte as she saw the brash pokemon kick up the dirt, fleece sparking intensely, lips pulled back in a snarl that a flaaffy should not be capable of. The orb on her tail glowed with a light almost as intense as the sun. Kit and Firebrand did not seem fazed by her fearsome façade. In fact, Firebrand simply snorted a plume of embers in disdain.

Before Charlotte could even open her mouth to do some organising before the battle, Kit called out his first move. "Will-o-wisp," he called. As the last word left his lips, Firebrand sprang into action, fur bristling. Steam began to visibly rise off her body, dissipating brisk afternoon air. The friction ignited little sparks all over her body that rose like little orbs from her, encircling Static.

"Disperse the flames with thunder wave," countered Charlotte, secretly proud of her idea.

"Fat chance," huffed Kit as a ring of sparks surrounded Static. In a flurry of smoke and sparks, some of the fireballs were put out. Unfortunately, one or two managed to worm their way through, singing right through Static's wool and burning her flesh. She bleated more so in anger than in pain. If there was anything she loved more than food, it was her looks.

"Charge your fleece and head in with a takedown attack," Charlotte commanded, pointing at the target in question. With a sound akin to the crackle of lightning, Static flung herself forwards, splitting the air with her speed. Air tunnelled around her as she headed at a breakneck speed towards Firebrand. The pokemon did not budge.

"Hex," called Kit. A red-purple tinge illuminated Firebrand as she arched her back, firing a succession of black fireballs at Static. Moving too fast too dodge them, she took the full brunt of the vulpix's attacks before slamming into her at full force. Both pokemon cried out in pain from their fresh injuries, withdrawing from one another as quickly as possible.

Charlotte knew that hex did more damage to pokemon afflicted with status conditions. The extra damage was clearly visible in the way Static now carried herself – heavily, like she had a pack of bricks strapped to her back. She smacked her orb on the ground threateningly, glaring daggers at Firebrand. That stuck-up runt was going to get it. A flicker of remaining static shimmered through Firebrand's fur.

"Confuse ray," said Charlotte, knowing that if she didn't incapacitate Firebrand now, they were going to be at a huge disadvantage. As quick as she could, Static concentrated, firing little orbs of concentrated light at Firebrand. They formed a halo around her, dizzying her. She stubbled to and fro, the world spinning around her feet. She felt sick to the stomach.

"Shit. Flame burst. Rapid fire," Kit replied, hoping that vulpix would at least be able to hit a few time – he wanted to get this fight over quick and in order to do so, he couldn't wait around. It was all attack moves from here on out.

Firebrand opened her mouth, her tongue pressed against the bottom of her mouth as she launched a short beam of flames right towards Static. It felt like the flaaffy was walking on jelly – but she was determined to not get hit again. Leaping from side to side, she managed to dodge the haphazard array of flames, sometimes batting at the flames with her tail to deflect them. Trails of embers streamed past her blue orb, singing her wool and eyelashes.

"Looks like Static is about to cark it," scoffed Kit scathingly. "You might as well give up now."

"No," snapped Charlotte, if not a little weakly. She had already resolved to go with him in the way he wanted – she hated fighting like this. Right now, her motives for continuing the fight was that she knew she would be letting down Static and her new eevee. "Strike the ground with your tail and go for a large-scale thunderwave," she commanded, recalling that she had used that particular tactic during her final battle with Morty.

"Form a barrier around yourself with extrasensory," rushed Kit. Firebrand was an easy target when she was tipsy and dizzy like this. There was a sputter of magenta light around her that lasted about as long as the dying flickers of a halogen light. She tripped over her own paws, colliding face first in the dirt.

"Firebrand!" he yelled in anger, tearing his hands through his hair in frustration. "You are better than this, get the hell up!" The pokemon heard his plea, trying her hardest to pull herself to her feet. The confusion had worn off somewhat, but she still swayed.

With an alarming crash, Static slammed her tail into the ground, splintering it around her orb. Static trailed along the ground like snakes, striking the incapacitated pokemon, singing her nerve endings. Frozen in her spot, the only thing she could move were her eyes. She looked about as lifeless as a stuffed and mounted stantler.

"Electroball," yelled Charlotte.

"Feint attack!" Kit countered simultaneously.

Lucky for Kit, Firebrand managed to urge herself to move just enough to set off at a slow, lopsided run towards Static, making herself look as underwhelming as possible. Static snorted as she shot a succession of electric-charged orbs right at her. The vulpix dodged a couple, but soon lost all feeling in her legs due to the lingering effects of the paralysis, submitting herself to the final three orbs in the barrage. She did not get back up.

The crowd cheered for Charlotte, prompting her to blush deeply. She didn't realise their fight had drawn such a crowd. Her eevee yapped and rubbed against Some of them offered her personal congratulations as she thanked Static for her hard work and returned her to her pokeball. Other offered their condolences for Kit's loss. The same woman from earlier warned him not to be sore loser. Kit was silent all the while, seething, simply staring at the twitching, unconscious form of his pokemon. Once the crowd had finally withdrawn, he returned her to her pokeball.

There was a few moments before Charlotte spoke up, cautiously, honestly expecting him to hurt her if she said anything he didn't like.

"…W-we can go your way," she stuttered. "I-It's fine, I-I shouldn't have argued like that." She took a couple steps forward. He recoiled a few steps in opposition.

"No," he barked. "A bet was a bet. I'll just have to really hone in on my sneaking skills." His voice trembled with rage. She could visibly see the effort he was making to stop himself from acting out. "Give me all your money."

"Y-y-sure," she stammered, hurriedly locating her purse and giving it to him. He shook out all the money into his pocket before tossing the purse back to her.

"Let's go. I want to get there just after dark," he huffed. He took off, roughly brushing past her on the way to the gate. She pursued him hastily, tears welling in her eyes again.

He really was cruel to her.

Route 42 was incredibly scenic in the dying light of day. According to the blurb in her Pokegear, route 42 was one of the oldest routes in Johto, carved into the mountain by some of the first settlers in the region. Due to the changing climate, the route had become permanently flooded in areas, forcing travellers to access the many caves dotting the cliff faces in order to reach Mahogany Town.

It was as Charlotte was admiring the way trickles of water carved their way through the rocks, plummeting into the glassy pools below, that she realised that she travelled a lot at dusk. It probably wasn't the best idea, now that she thought about it. She shuddered as a brisk breeze lashed at her bare skin. She was really regretting not packing a wetsuit. She would just have to put up with her one piece for now.

She clung tight to Fang as he swum keenly thorough the brightly glistening waters. The water was so pure that one could see the bottom once the ripples settled. While she waited for Kit, she watched a krabby scuttle into a rocky crevice. Soon enough, Kit was at her side, shirtless and hanging onto his poliwhirl, Poseidon. He had told her that it would be quicker if they went by water. Charlotte wanted to explore the caves but she didn't want to risk upsetting him again.

They went along in silence, both keeping to their own thoughts. Charlotte was still busy admiring her surroundings, whereas Kit was dreading his upcoming visit to Mahogany town. He stared at the horizon, watching the smoke curl amongst the trees. The route was not long, but judging from how low the sun was in the sky, they would have to camp out in one of the caves for the night.

Groaning in anguish, he let himself glance over at Charlotte, a pang of residual anger thrilling through him. If she wasn't so naïve – so nice, all the time, maybe he would understand his plight better. He didn't want to risk going back there and hearing them yell at him again, reminding him of how shitty he was as a trainer, of how much of a disappointment he was to a very proud, nearly hidden village of ninjas.

A slight movement in her neck indicated that she was about to turn her head to look at him. He snapped his gaze away, focusing on the horizon once more. The smoke was now obscured by the swirl of approaching storm clouds. Charlotte saw them too.

"We can't be out in that weather," she said.

"I know," Kit snapped. "I'm not stupid. We need to find higher ground. This route will flood if it rains hard enough." Charlotte nodded in agreement, pointing towards the highest point in the route.

"What about there," she suggested. Kit nodded, spotting a cave there as well which would shelter them.

"Let's get a move on then," he said, tapping Poseidon gently, urging him to move faster.

Charlotte wanted to talk to Kit, but for whatever reason, she simply couldn't find the words. The entire trip was spent in a tense, almost suspenseful silence that drove the both of them insane. Kit, just like Charlotte, wanted to say something, but he knew that whatever he had to say to her would just make her cry and he was growing very tired of seeing her break down like that.

It made him feel like a monster.

The wind ripped through the pass, stripping the leaves off trees, tossing up the once still lakes. The clouds swirled angrily above, lightning crackling through the grey abyss like golden veins. Thunder rocked the land, making Charlotte jump every time. The water rose and rose, turning into miniature waterfalls wherever the land fell. Most of the caves at the beginning of the route had been swamped, now inaccessible. Both children had the high land in their sites, their pokemon desperately paddling towards it.

"Kit!" screamed Charlotte over the howling wind. "Are we going to make it?"

"I don't know!" he bellowed back. "Just shut up!" As if on cue, a deafening crack silenced the children, drawing them to the sight on the right side of the bank. A towering pine tree had been struck by lightning. Its thick trunk had been split right through the centre, its halves smouldering as they were eaten up by fresh flames. A creak akin to the sound of an old door echoed through the air as one of the halves fell right towards the river.

"Charlotte!" bellowed Kit, reaching out his hand just as the tree fell right onto her path. Fang, sensing the danger, threw the girl right off his back and onto the closest rocky ledge. A mere second later, the tree crashed into the river, being submerged by the rapids for a few moments. Charlotte screamed out for her pokemon, unable to see him through the waves. She gushed a sigh of relief as he came back up again, clutching at the now damp back of the broken tree.

She soon began to panic again though, once she saw the river simply fall away, the land giving in with an almighty crash. Without thinking, she dived right into the rapids, managing to grab hold of the log and her pokemon just as it butted up against a couple of large boulders. It was too big to go over just yet, but Charlotte had a feeling the pressure would cause it to snap.

She had merely a moment to take a breath before she saw Kit's mask being drawn over the falls. Her heart froze as for a brief moment that Kit himself had gone over. However, a loud, familiar yell caught her attention, her frightened blue grey-eyes snapping towards the cave that they had been aiming for merely five minutes ago. Kit was standing there, eyes wide, hunched over, staring right at her. Poseidon was beside of him, looking just as worn out. How he managed to get there was beyond her.

"You're going to have to make your way over here!" He screamed over the thundering clouds, torrential rain and the roaring rapids. Charlotte's heart was beating so fast in perpetual terror that she felt as though it would burst. She felt Fang's clawed hand grab hers. She looked him into his always determined, glassy blue eyes. He smiled toothily, showing off a new gap in his smile. She knew that he wanted to get her across the river.

Her brow furrowed as she peered through the spray of the muddied water, staring out over the violently thrashing waves. Fragments of debris crashed from rock to rock, the occasional drowning pokemon screaming past. She knew Fang was strong – but not as strong as a feraligatr. He would not be able to survive those waters. She gave him a melancholic smile as she returned him for her pokeball, silently thankful that they were waterproof.

"No do-," began Kit desperately. His voice was cut off by the waves as Charlotte dragged herself along the log as quickly yet carefully as she could manage. Her body was like a ragdoll in the tide – almost useless. It felt like hours had dragged on by the time she pulled herself up onto a small, slippery boulder, struggling to keep her balance in the howling wind. Kit was looking more and more panicked by the minute. There was still a good five meters to where Kit was standing.

Charlotte felt like she couldn't make it.

"You are going to have to jump!" he said, cupping his hands around his mouth to get his words across.

She shook her head but, upon looking around for any other answer to her problem, she determined that really, the only way was to jump as far as she could and pray for the best. She looked back up at Kit, tears stinging her eyes.

"I'm going to catch you," he assured her. She didn't believe him. She was just deadweight to him. Charlotte supposed she could wait the storm out on the rock under her feet – if she managed to hold onto it for long enough. Her foot began to slip. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"I promise!" pressed Kit urgently. "You annoy me and I don't get you but…I don't hate you!" The girl's eyes flew open, meeting his for a small moment. She couldn't believe what he had just said. She took a deep breath, placing her faith in him for now. Summoning every ounce of courage in her, she pushed as hard as she could off the rock, and into the air.

The water hit her like an icy punch in the gut. Her cheeks bulged like a chipmunk as she struggled to hold her breath. The water tossed her about like a sock in a washing machine, her limps flailing widely as she clawed her way to the surface, managing only a quick breath before being pulled down again. She desperately tried to swim towards the ledge where Kit was, but the waves were quick to take over her movements. Fearing the worst, her breath escaped her mouth, water flowing into her lungs.

Suddenly, something grasped her wrist, sharply removing her from the flood's grip. On her hands and knees, head swimming, she began to cough violently, bringing up all the water that had been trapped in her lungs. She stayed in that position for a little while longer, waiting until her heart beat lessened enough for her to hear herself think.

"Inside," she heard Kit say, followed by another tug at her wrist. On her feet again, the pair headed into the cave, finally out of the bullet-like rain. Charlotte and Kit looked at one another, barely able to see through the darkness of the cave.

"Thank you," thanked the trainer earnestly, bowing down slightly. "I would have drowned if you hadn't saved me."

"I know," he sighed awkwardly. "Look, I'm going to build a fire go get changed or something. Your bag is waterproof right?" Charlotte was astonished that the bag had managed to stay on her back through all that. It was a good thing she had that waist buckle on her bag. It was mostly waterproof but she wasn't sure about it being submerged.

"I-I'll have to see," she said as Kit retreated further into the cave.

She stared blankly in the direction he had left for a long moment, still unable to come to terms with the fact that the boy who had been so mean to her since the day they met, had just saved her life. She began to think that if they had split ways after that battle. If he hadn't been there for her, that storm and subsequent flood could have killed her. She was very thankful. A cold shudder ran down her spine, kicking her into motion.

The interior of the cave was dark, damp, musky and smelt vaguely of zubat guano. Nevertheless, it offered shelter enough. Charlotte had changed out of her soaked swimming togs and into her slightly soggy regular clothes, shuddering in the cold. Kit had been gone a while, deep within the cave, searching for something to use as fuel for the fire. In the meantime, Charlotte had sent out all her pokemon, assuring that they were okay, and checking that nothing valuable had been ruined by the water.

Fang and Sunnyside noticed a large, purple bruise on Charlotte's right forearm, drawing her alarm. Static came over and sniffed at it, inspecting it with what the trainer assumed was an expert's eye. Static, as a wild pokemon, had seen her fair share of injuries and, without a trainer to fix them for her, had to take care of herself. The flaaffy shook her head, giving it a slight tap with her hoof, causing the girl to grimace with pain. Moonlight, stricken with concern, ran over and began to lick her injury sympathetically. Athena didn't seem to care, but was watching them from afar.

"I…didn't even notice it was hurt," she muttered as she finally registered the immense pain in her arm. It didn't seem broken, but it was still a nasty bruise. "Fang, could you get the first aid kit out of my bag?" she asked. The pokemon swiftly obliged, handing the bulky case to her. She unclipped it, and gingerly began to work on her injury. Unsure what she could do for it, she simply applied some salve and wrapped some bandages around the area. In the process, she found that she had numerous cuts and bruises, though none were too serious.

"You hurt?" said Kit as he emerged from the depths of the cave with an armful of spindly twigs. He quickly noticed her bandaged arm, anguish flickering in his eyes for a moment. "Damn," he muttered. "Is that broken?" He asked. Charlotte shook her head.

"It's probably best if I go and get it checked out anyway," she said. Kit nodded in agreement.

"I got some bad cuts too. Hand me that first aid kit," he demanded. She did, and Kit quickly tended to the most major of his injuries with experienced gestures. Kit sure did ask her for supplies a lot – just what did he carry in his backpack?

Afterwards, the girl and her pokemon watched Kit get to work on the fire: gathering the twigs in a triangular formation, making a ring of stones around the outside and getting Firebrand to light it. The fire took a few moments to flicker to life, casting an orange glow around their portion of the cave, shadows dancing upon the cold walls.

Simultaneously, everyone shuffled towards the fire, basking in the warmth. Kit sighed expansively, slumping down on the opposite side. He instructed Charlotte to look away while he changed into his slightly less soaked day clothes. She didn't need to be told twice.

"I-I…," she stammered, embarrassed. "…Have some cans of food for both us and the pokemon."

"Good, get to work on that," Kit nodded, turning his back to the girl and slipping out of his swimming trunks. Charlotte ignored the rustling of his clothing as she tended to taking the cans of food out of her bag. She realised the she didn't have enough food for both hers and Kit's pokemon. She asked Kit if he had any, to which he assured her that he would feed his own pokemon and that he was humiliated to be accepting food from her as it was.

Once Kit was clothed, he helped Charlotte put their cans of soup into the fire in such a way that they would cook, but not burn. Charlotte poured her pokemon some food, Kit doing the same. Before long, everyone had settled done with some food and fresh water.

"Hey…Kit?" enquired Charlotte softly. He looked up from his soup, a trail of it dribbling down his chin. His midnight blue eyes seemed weary, yet somehow still sparkled. Charlotte was caught up in them for a moment before she said what she needed to say. "I did know what you meant when you said that parents don't always love their kids."

He was annoyed that she was bringing up this subject again but in his tiredness, he gave up, humouring her. "Do you?" he asked sceptically. She shrugged, gulping down another mouthful of hot soup. She burnt her tongue a little, causing her to screw up her eyes in pain. Kit chuckled half-heartedly at her misfortune. She frowned at him.

"My mum…isn't the nicest mum," she began. "She yells at me and scolds me all the time – over everything." Kit looked to the side, nodding in understanding. His mother was exactly the same. "Nothing I ever did was right," she went on. Kit felt the same way. The fact that he was empathising with her made him slightly uncomfortable.

"She knew I wanted to be a pokemon ranger and she hated it because she had always wanted me to follow in her footsteps and beat the elite four like she never did. But I didn't want to – I still don't want to. She made me go on this journey to prove to her that I am strong enough to be a ranger," she explained in a monotone, watching Moonlight roll around near the fire, prompting a wary glare from Firebrand.

"But," she said, perking up a little. "I know she loves me – very much. And I love her too. She has told me herself that the only reason she is harsh on me is because she wants me to do well in life."

"But dad, on the other hand…I have only spoken to him once or twice since I set out on my journey. He always asks about mum – it…it's like he doesn't care about me, sometimes," she said, her voice dying down to a whisper towards the end. Her eyes felt heavy all of a sudden. "When I was little, we used to be so close but then mum and dad began fighting and…they got a divorce."

There was a period of silence before she heard a deep sigh escape from Kit. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say. He felt like saying sorry – he didn't know she had problems too, but he didn't want to sound weak. "My parents are harsh on me too. They want me to grow up and become a man so quickly. Day in and day out they made me do all this training in preparation for ninja school so I would be stronger than the other kids from the very first day."

His can of soup rattled as he stirred his spoon around. Charlotte clung on to his every word. "My dad he…" he paused, gritting his teeth together, unsure if he should be telling her all this. "…hits me if I don't succeed." Charlotte's red eyebrows shot up as her face screwed up in deep concern. Kit raised his hands up in defence, though his expression remained serious. "It's not that bad, geez. I don't have a single bruise to show for it. No, he just smacks me on the back with a newspaper. Just hard enough to make me feel bad about whatever I did. And mum…she just acts like I'm not even there during these times – that I'm just something disgusting to her. She cries a lot."

"We didn't have much money too…sometimes, we had to skip meals because we just didn't have anything in the cupboard to feed us…I guess they want me to become a great ninja so I can earn lots of money to support them. You see, dad lost all his money and his job in a bad gamble…mum is the main supplier of money in our family and she doesn't earn that much as a pokemart clerk."

"I guess that's also why you love money so much," Charlotte interrupted. Kit nodded solemnly.

"Things…got worse once mum got pregnant, since they were worried they couldn't support the baby. So they sent me out to gather my own money for ninja school, while dad tries to get some lousy job in Ecruteak. So basically, I don't want to go back there because I've fucked up – many times. I thought I would have gathered way more money by now and I'm just…scared what my parents would think."

He heard a rustle beside him, alerting him to Charlotte's presence. He literally jumped back, startled. "H-hey," he muttered. She lowered her head.

"I didn't realise things were like that," she finally admitted, much to his secret pleasure. "I…I'm sorry."

Kit took a deep breath. "I'm kind of sorry too, okay, whatever," he brushed it off like it wasn't a big deal. The words had a sour taste on his tongue. "I…probably overreacted…I get angry a lot, okay. It's kind of a family thing." Charlotte nodded in understanding. "There, I apologised – you happy?" She nodded again, grinning brilliantly in satisfaction. For the first time, Kit noticed that she had one of her canine teeth missing. Was that new? He found himself smiling back unwittingly.

"You have a cute smile, Kit," she giggled. "You should wear it more often." He looked away from her, feeling weak under her gaze, a blush burning his cheeks.


	21. Silver

**Chapter 21: Silver**

The flood waters had died down enough overnight for Kit and Charlotte to navigate through the rest of the route without too much difficulty. Towards the end of the route, there were even a couple of trainers scavenging for lost items that were up for a battle. Since their pokemon weren't particularly threatening pokemon, Charlotte decided it was a good opportunity to let Moonlight battle.

Instead of doing a double battle, they decided they would just battle each person separately. Charlotte decided to spar with a young woman with long pastel pink hair and a flamboyant bayleef. It shook it's leaves, spreading an earthy, spicy scent throughout the morning air. She seemed very well cared for, with her glossy, pale yellow skin and bright amber eyes.

"Um…" Charlotte began coyly. "W-would you b-be able to go a little easy on Moonlight? He's like…ARS level five." A little surprised, the girl nodded. She gave her bayleef's side a rough pat.

"Looks like we got ourselves an easy fight this morning, Incense," she whistled. "She's level twenty, just warning you." Charlotte nodded as she nudged her little eevee forwards. He looked utterly puzzled for a moment, staring at the bayleef confusedly, before looking back up at Charlotte with the same expression.

"We are going to battle," she informed him. "It's okay, we'll take it slow, and I'll tell you what you need to do." His tongue lopped out of his mouth as he nodded, the confusion in his purple eyes disappearing. He yipped cheerily as he jumped to and fro, tail wagging. She knew that he was raised purely for non-combatant purposes, but that didn't mean he couldn't learn.

"Use tackle," she commanded. Moonlight stared at his paws. The move registered – he knew what a tackle was, but he had never done it beyond play-fighting with his brothers before. Taking a steady breath, he nervously sprung forth, hoping that it was not too far removed from play fighting.

The ground whizzed past as he scampered towards bayleef. She stared at him with adoration as he smacked into her thick, stump like legs, with full force. The area he hit went a little red but beyond that, she took no damage. She wiggled her leg, kicking him off. He barked at her, grinning, as if asking her if it was good. It response, she leaned over and licked his forehead before nudging him back to Charlotte.

Incense's trainer laughed. "Aww man, you got that little one from a pet store, didn't you?" Charlotte nodded sheepishly. "It's going to be difficult to make him strong. Hey, how about I help you out?" Curious, the girl took a few steps forward, picking up her eevee.

"Sure," she said slowly.

"Well, since my bayleef is like a tank, how about you let him practice his moves on her? He'll probably go up a couple of ARS levels and I'm sure Incense won't mind," she suggested, smiling warmly at the young trainer. Charlotte beamed from ear to ear, eagerly taking on her offer.

"Sounds great!" she chirped. She turned to Kit, noticing that he was fighting his opponent's usaring. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the towering, snarling bear, collapse on the ground. His noctowl, Nyx settled on top of the fainted bear, preening her thick plumage gleefully. Kit felt her gaze, smirking at her. Charlotte gave him a thumbs up, before explaining what she was about to do.

After training for a couple hours with the pink-haired girl – Lisa – and her bayleef, Moonlight managed to climb up three levels, learning sand-attack in the process, and becoming at least a little more confident with his current moves. Since Lisa and her boyfriend had somewhere to be, Charlotte and Kit headed on towards Mahogany Town.

Mahogany Town was small, and somehow even more traditional than Ecruteak and Violet city. In fact, most of them seemed to speak their native Japanese, which Charlotte was not very fluent in. Kit, however, had no trouble, and did most of the talking if it came up. They ran into a couple of his acquaintances on the way to the pokemon centre. Kit made them promise not to tell his parents that he was there, bribing them with chocolate bars.

The town was quaint in size – housing around 150 – 200 people. All the houses were built from thick plaster and red tiled roofs – some of which were ordained with golden pokemon sculptures. At each corner of the town stood a wooden watch tower, in which men dressed in all black stood, keeping watch for any suspicious activity. There seemed to be a few people who were clad in ninja gear, walking around like it was normal.

Charlotte also found that there was a small gym there – she hadn't even known. She resolved to challenge it once she was through with exploring the Lake of Rage up north.

Their first port of call was to get Charlotte to the local doctor's clinic. Pokemon centres could provide medical care for people in an emergency, but it was preferred that trainer's, if able, head to an actual doctor's clinic to receive specialised care. Charlotte found out that her arm was not broken – just badly bruised and that she was lucky. She was pleased to hear that – if she had a cast on, she wouldn't be able to explore the Lake of Rage.

Promptly after healing their pokemon at the centre, they headed over to route 43.

Only to find that it was infested by the Spore Initiative.

Both trainers were on edge as traversed the lake-side route. They didn't appear to be doing anything seriously suspicious. In fact, they mostly seemed to be sparring between themselves with a plethora of grass, bug and poison pokemon. All of them were hanging around the run-down gate terminal which used to be where route 43 began. Highly suspicious of them, Charlotte and Kit chose to take the longer, more overgrown, route to the lake.

Route 43 was an incredibly lush, forested route, which was frequented by many trainers looking for an open space to fight. It was over-run by pokemon and was poorly tended to by Mahogany Town's local council, thus, it was impossible to navigate the route without encountering a handful of raticate or pigeotto. Luckily, Static and Nightshade were able to put them down pretty easily, along with some of the trainers on the route.

Around midday, Charlotte and Kit reached the cabin at the edge of the lake where diving equipment could be rented for the day. The equipment was much more expensive than she was expecting so she had to convince Kit to begrudgingly pitch in to cover the fee. They got changed and met up at the edge of the lake.

"This better be worth the cost," grumbled Kit as he slipped on his breathing apparatus, before sending out Poseidon. Charlotte nodded enthusiastically as she followed suit, sending out Fang to help her get through the water.

They peered out over the Lake of Rage, basking in its scenic appearance. The water shimmered in the midday sun – the glittering reflection bright enough to make the children squint as to not burn their retinas. There were clumps of plants growing up through the water, like a waterlogged forest. Upon looking closer, they found that it was actually the tops of trees, not reeds or other water-loving plants.

Kit, since he used to live in Mahogany Town, explained how seasonally, the lake would flood. He said that flood season was lasting a lot longer this year for whatever reason, so the lake's water level was still high, therefore explaining the tree tops.

"But the lake will never be low enough to expose the old town," he shrugged, stepping into the surprisingly chill water. He shuddered, rubbing his forearms in an attempt to warm himself up. "Usually it's raining," he noted, as he craned his neck skywards. "Like…twenty-four-seven out here."

"Weird," chirped Charlotte as she took a running jump into the lake, splashing water all over Kit. He huffed in annoyance, splashing her as she came back up, causing a brief water fight. Poseidon and Fang soon joined in, making enough ruckus to attract some angry looks from some nearby fishermen. Ceasing their fighting, the two finally decided to submerge, clinging onto their pokemon.

Charlotte had never seen Fang look so alive. This was the first time Fang had actually been in a lake as deep and expansive as that one. His eyes were wide and filled with awe as he virtually forgot Charlotte was holding onto him. He swam around haphazardly whilst making inaudible croaking noises, drawing an odd look from a Poseidon, who was born in the wild. Fang swam right up into the poliwhirl's face, causing Charlotte and Kit to bump heads and frown at one another.

Fang tried to tell Poseidon to lighten up – enjoy the water. But the pokemon, too used to this kind of environment, simply couldn't empathise with him. Fang stared out over the expanse of the lake, grinning wildly. The water was deep, but clear and illuminated enough so that the silty lakebed could easily be seen. A forest of trees was rooted in the mud, a host to a collective of algae and, oddly enough, corsola. Magikarp and all the evolutions of poliwag made this lake their home, appearing in bountiful amounts all around him. Poseidon seemed to know some of them, grinning at the occasional passer-by. Sometimes, they saw a gyrados which Fang pulled faces at when it wasn't looking.

Charlotte was terrified by the presence of all the gyrados in the lake, earning a sarcastic eye-roll from Kit. They couldn't speak to each other underwater, but Charlotte knew that he would have told her something along the lines of 'if they were violent they wouldn't have rented us the equipment to dive here.'

Kit glanced over at Charlotte, staring at how her carrot-orange hair fanned out around her like rippling seaweed. Her eyes were alight with excitement and determination, as they spotted a collection of submerged, brown tile roofed buildings on the horizon. She pet Fang's side, urging him to move quicker. He obeyed his trainer, eager to see the place himself. Kit couldn't understand why she was so determined to see the place. Yes, an underwater town was cool and contained possible loot but beyond that, it held little lustre for him.

As they neared the bottom of the lake, the pressure of the hundreds of litres of water above them making their bodies feel heavy, they noticed the plethora of flora and fauna that made up the ecosystem there. The lakebed was positively thriving with life – everyone one looked, there was a pokemon or some magnificent lake plant flourishing. Seaweed and long strands of algae tickled their skin as they swam. The abandoned buildings had become the lake pokemon's homes, Charlotte likening it to the city of Atlantis.

The buildings were remarkably well preserved, with there being only some erosion to their white brick walls. There were benches, light poles, trash cans, and even stone paths which were completely intact. Algae grew over nearly every inch of the surface, slimy to the touch. Charlotte grimaced, wiping off the slim on her togs. Kit had swum towards one of the smaller buildings, swiping away some of the greenery obscuring the sign. He made a point of gesturing to the sign, which read 'pokemart.'

Unfortunately, there was a log blocking the doorway. However, one of the windows was broken, allowing the trainers and their pokemon to carefully ease their way into the building. A bunch of krabby scuttled away as they floated further inside, intrigued by the rows of half-empty shelves. Kit immediately began rifling through them, inspecting a few old potions and cans of pokemon food. Judging from the frustration in his face, they were empty. They did manage to find a couple of great balls though, which may come in handy later.

Their next stop was the pokemon centre, which was completely overrun by the poliwag population. Kit let go of Poseidon for a bit so he could play with them. Charlotte thought she might as well let Fang loose too since he seemed eager to join in on the fun. Not expecting to find much, the pair split up, exploring each and every room of the centre. As they expected, there was nothing there.

Their next stop was the old gym. Charlotte seemed particularly eager to check it out, swimming way ahead of Kit to reach it. On their way there, they came across the town centre, which proudly displayed an intricate statue of a towering gyrados. Weeds entangled it, obscuring the nameplate at the statue's base. Charlotte went to work immediately, hoping that the plate would reveal what she wished to show Kit.

It read: Scarlet Town - A village at one with the lake.

Scoffing, Kit scrawled a single word into the statue's algae with his finger: irony. The girl giggled, looking him in his blue eyes for a moment. His face remained flawless, even underwater. Simultaneously, they looked away from each other, finding it weird to have been staring at each other for so long.

Charlotte smiled contently, now sure that this was the town where her mother used to live and train in her childhood. Seeing Kit's eminent confusion surrounding her attraction to the place, she wrote a short explanation in the algae. 'Mum lived here' she scrawled. Eyes flashing with realisation, Kit nodded, pointing towards the gym on the opposite side of the plaza. Charlotte nodded in silent agreement as they headed for it.

The gym seemed to be the most dilapidated building in the down, with a large portion of its wall completely missing. The rusty lock attached to the iron doors was completely useless, since the children simply entered through the missing wall. It was a lot darker in there than they were expecting, the sight of the murky darkness filling Charlotte with eminent dread. Kit rolled her eyes at her hesitation – she was the one who wanted to come down here in the first place.

He grabbed her by her wrist, tugging her into the gym. Simultaneously, he pulled a blue glow stick out of his pocket that he had kept in his backpack just in case. He cracked it, a soft blue light encasing them like an orb. Charlotte was comforted. The small halo of light was enough to relax Charlotte a little. Kit went to release her from his grip, but she quickly snatching his wrist.

He stopped in his tracks, turning towards her with a disgusted look. Charlotte pleaded with her eyes, begging him to just humour this once. He rolled his eyes, turning away from here. Fortunately, he made no move to free himself from her.

They drifted down to the very front of the gym, taking a gander at the twin, miniature gyrados statues. The plaques below them were inscribed with numerous names of trainers from Charlotte's mother's younger days. She was having trouble seeing, pointing at one of the plaques. Kit hovered closer, illuminating it with the glow stick.

There was her name, carved right in there amongst the others: Janette Evergreen. Kit saw it too, raising his eyebrows. Charlotte's mother must have done the gym challenge when she was younger, and, just like Charlotte said, was making her daughter do the same. Kit wondered if she actually managed to beat all of the gyms – it was not an easy task. Well, he could probably do it if he tried, but ninjas don't need to prove their strength through that kind of thing.

They wandered out into the main area of the gym, which seemed to be a shell of its former self – darkened, overgrown, and unkempt. There was a colossal stone column positioned at the corners of the battle field and the very centre of the battle field, rising from what was once a huge oval pool. Upon sighting the slumbering gyrados, curled up in the centre of the pool, they steered clear of it. The entire place was ravaged by weeds, kelp and submerged shrubs, vines and grass in which various water type pokemon frolicked.

There was a long moment where Charlotte stared out over the arena, picturing her mother battling there with her monstrous pokemon – pummelling everything in their way with their combined prowess. There was no way she could live up to her mother. And frankly, she had little desire to be the same trainer as she was – power hungry.

Her reflection was interrupted by the sound of a waterlogged roar trembling through the waves. Startled, Charlotte, Kit and their pokemon exchanged nervous looks. Kit quickly headed towards the exit of the gym, eager to see what made such a noise. Charlotte, on the other hand, was much less keen. That was until she began to see the giant gyrados at the bottom of the gym begin to stir. Grabbing hold of Kit's wrist again, they headed back up into the town again, met with a scene that they were unlikely to witness every again in their life.

A gigantic feraligatr was engaged in furious combat with a lapras just as large and fearsome as it was. Charlotte and Kit were frozen in their tracks, partially by awe, and partially by utter terror. The lapras fired an icy beam right towards them, forcing them to quickly barrel out of the way, pushed further back by the blast. They hid behind the fragmented wall of the gym.

Judging from the scars and dark blue markings, that feraligatr was Silver's. She had seen it a few times before and a pokemon that unique was hard to loose in a crowd. Fang recognised it too, struck by utter amazement at the sheer ferocity of the creature. He was struck with a great desire to be as fearsome as it was. The lapras it was fighting seemed awfully familiar too, but there were no distinguishing features that could spark her memory.

A rush of water behind them alerted them to the sudden activity of the colossal gyrados. It seemed incredibly upset that something had disturbed its slumber, heading right for the two combatants with aim to do away with them.

Panicking, Kit pointed to the surface. As quickly as possible, their pokemon began to swiftly pull them towards the surface. What followed was a flurry of claws, dragon rage attacks, aqua tails, and ice beams. Charlotte and Kit's pokemon tried their hardest to avoid the attacks, but at the speed, direction and frequency the attacks were coming, things were made very difficult. They were clipped by some attacks here and there, knocking them off course.

The panic and fear within the children swelled as the pokemon seemed to get even more furious. They were hit straight on by an aqua tail presumably from feraligatr or gyrados, sending them up to the surface much quicker than attended.

Screaming and squealing like rattata, the trainers and their pokemon were shot right into the sky. As quickly as humanly possible, Kit sent out Nyx to catch them, right as they began to freefall towards the lake again. Nyx gripped Kit's shoulders as he grabbed onto Poseidon. Charlotte hugged Kit's waist to stop herself from falling further. Fang was clinging to her leg, his sharp claws digging into her flesh. Judging from the sudden drop in altitude, Nyx was not used to dealing with such weight.

Unceremoniously, she flew them down the bank of the lake, dropping them. Everyone fell to the dirt with a thud, groaning at the addition of a few new bruises. However, they didn't have any time for respite, since they noticed a secondary battle going on at the shore.

Silver's green-trimmed, white uniform didn't suit him well – black and red was certainly more his colour. His scarlet hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, beads of sweat rolling down his pale forehead. He appeared to have suffered a blow to the head, judging from the trail of blood trickling down the side of his face. His attention was entirely focused on the striking man standing opposite to him: Storm. His hair was in disarray, his once pristinely white attire splattered with mud and a hint of blood.

Just what went down here in the hour that Kit and Charlotte were underwater?

Silver was battling Storm's pokemon with his magnezone. Having trouble identifying the beast Storm was using in the fight, Charlotte scanned it with her pokedex, discovering that it was a pokemon raised from a fossil – kabutops. The pokemon in question sprung forth at the speed of light, slashing at the magnezone with enough power to actually do damage to its steel body. Charlotte noticed with horror that kabutops's claws were stained with dried blood.

She could tell that magnezone was getting tired, its electric attacks firing at an increasingly slower pace. She noticed Silver's hand twitch towards his pokeball belt, probably preparing to switch out as soon as magnezone went down.

Charlotte was unsure what to do. Should she continue fleeing? Or should she stay to help Silver? She barely had any time to deliberate over the question when Kit sprang into action. Hurling his haunter, Zombie, into the fray, he commanded him to use shadow ball. Panicking, Charlotte followed in his stead, telling Fang to use crunch. Simultaneously, their attacks hit, surprising both Silver and Storm, and doing a reasonable amount of damage to kabutops.

Storm's gaze, always obscured by his aviator shades, grew colder at the sight of her. Silver's eyes held about the same amount of love for her. Charlotte felt a shudder run down her spine. Silver was quick to turn back to his opponent, instructing his magnezone to unleash a finishing blow of zap cannon. Hurriedly, the metal pokemon gathered a ball of light, which promptly imploded into a broad beam of blinding yellow light, which struck kabutops front on, barely missing Zombie and Fang.

Storm sighed heavily, seething anger clear in his tone. A crisp beeping noise was suddenly heard throughout the air, just as Silver was about to switch pokemon in preparation for his next opponent. With a practiced flourish, Storm returned kabutops to its pokeball, before letting loose of a loud whistle. Moments later, his lapras shot out of the lake, landing on the bank with enough force to shatter the earth beneath it. Charlotte and Kit noticed that it was absolutely riddled with deep slashes that oozed blood. It was promptly returned to its pokeball.

"As much as I would like to stay and pummel you into the ground, traitor," he spat. "I have more important business to attend to." He tossed another pokeball, unleashing a pelipper, which he promptly boarded. Visibly shaking with rage, he glared at Silver condescendingly. "If I ever see your wretched mug around the Spore Initiative again, a light head wound isn't all I'll give you." With a swish of his denim coat, pelipper took to the skies, soon disappearing in the clouds. A few moments later, a light drizzle kicked up.

With a soft sigh, Silver massaged the bridge of his nose, returning both his magnezone and recently surfaced feraligatr, to their respective pokeballs. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he turned towards the two children with a piercingly judgmental look, coppery eyebrows furrowed.

"You shouldn't have butted in. I had three pokemon remaining," he huffed in a monotone.

"I didn't care about you," snorted Kit. "That asshole was part of the Spore Initiative who poisoned my nidorino." He looked from Kit to Charlotte, losing interest in the former.

"Charlotte – you were just following suit weren't you?" he asked. It was more of a statement though. Coyly, Charlotte nodded, wondering if she should apologise or not. Instead, she let her curiosity peak, prompting her to ask him a few questions, hoping that the stoic boy would actually answer her.

"What…what happened here?" she asked, staring around at the state of the place. There were fractured tree limbs on the borders of the clearing. The log cabin nearby had gotten a portion of its roof blown off, the occupants of the house staring at it, scratching their heads. The awakened gyrados was going on a rampage in the middle of the lake. The clouds had returned, the rain steadily growing heavier. There were scorch marks all over the grass, cracks torn through the splintered earth.

"It's nothing a child should concern herself with," he concluded as he began to stride away from them, dabbing at the blood on his forehead with a handkerchief. Charlotte beckoned to her pokemon, heading after him.

"W-wait! Silver, I want to know what's going on!" she yelled. Silver stopped, refusing to turn to look at her.

"Your curiosity will get you killed. Hasn't your mother told you that?" he scoffed. Charlotte balled her fists.

"I just…need to know. Maybe I can help?" she dared to question. With a groan, Silver looked back at her, debating over whether he should actually give Charlotte and her oddly dressed friend a little insight into the major issue currently gripping him and his so-called friends. The girl was persistent when she needed to be – it would be honestly better telling her than to let her run into further trouble anyway.

"I was undercover with the Spore Initiative, under Storm's training division," he explained hastily, simply wanted to get out of there and report back to the professor. "I was caught by Storm himself, leading to that fight." Charlotte's curiosity only grew, causing her to open her mouth to ask more questions.

"Enough questions," he said. "I have something very important to do and I don't want you getting in the way." Charlotte sighed in dismay, letting him retreat into the town ahead. Once he was gone, Kit grabbed her by the shoulders, spinning her around to look at him.

"Do you know him?" he asked, expression completely serious. Shocked by his sudden change of tone, she squirmed out of his grip, shrugging.

"Not…really," she answered vaguely. "I know his rival, Gold, though. I've met Silver a few times. As you can see though…we aren't close." Kit looked relieved, nodding his head.

"Good, because there is no way someone like you should be close to someone like him," he said. Charlotte furrowed her brow. Was he insulting her again? "He's too cool for you, Carrot." She was surprised by his affection for him though. Kit tended not to show strong feelings for anything, other than on accident.

"Do you like him?" she asked, eyebrows raised in astonishment.

"I look up to him. He's strong," he explained as he began to set off in the same direction as Silver.

"Me too," she chirped in agreement, heading with him.

"Great. So you'll agree to me following him then?" he asked sarcastically, drawing his knitted scarf over his mouth. Wide-eyed and suddenly confused, Charlotte urged him to wait as he set off at a run faster than what she could manage, forcing her to sprint as fast as she could to keep up with him.


	22. Frankenstein

Chapter Twenty-Two: Frankenstein

Feeling as if they were completely invading Silver's privacy, Charlotte continuously tried to tell Kit to just let him do as he wishes. Kit's stubbornness got in the way of her persuasion though. He knew that something serious was going on here. If Silver was interested in the issue, than so was he, as far as he was concerned. Not only that but those Spore guys still needed to pay for hurting his pokemon.

Eventually, Charlotte quietened down, letting her curiosity take over begrudgingly. Kit instructed her to stick close to him since he was a ninja and was as such, much better at sneaking than he was. She had to admit, Kit really knew what he was doing. They clung to the shadows of buildings, darting out of his sight whenever he happened to glance in his direction. Kit even helped her up onto the roof the pokemon centre at one point, to wait for him to come out again.

Once he did, he was dressed in his usual attire of a black, high collared coat with red trim and a pair of slightly baggy jeans. He had sent out two of his pokemon – alakazam and feraligatr. With an air of confidence that can only be achieved by a trainer as powerful and infamous as him, he strode towards a small, barely noticeable building – indistinguishable apart from the burnt-out transmission tower beside it. There was a large 'S' plaque beside the door, in the same style used by the Spore Initiative, thus marking it as their property.

The door appeared to be locked from the inside, judging from how much Silver rattled the door handle with no success. A deep sigh rattled his lungs as he nodded to his pokemon. With a deafening crash his feraligatr simply brought down the door with sheer force, causing cries of alarm from within the small building.

"I think we'll get in more subtly," scoffed Kit, pointing towards an aeration vent. Charlotte agreed, not so sure that they should be getting involved with what Silver was about to do – it looked pretty reckless. She still wasn't sure who the good or bad guys here were – yes, the Spore Initiative seemed suspicious, but from what they had told her, their intentions were good. Silver, on the other hand, had a dubious history, according to Gold, and would easily resort to violence if the situation got irritating for him.

With all these doubts swirling around in her mind, she still helped Kit unscrew the grate on the vent, sending out Athena to help boost them up. Of course, Charlotte asked for her opinion first, informing her that they were going to go watch Silver infiltrate a Spore Initiative base. She perked up at that, agreeing to help them inside. However, she was completely unwilling to help if there was actually a fight – she didn't want to relive being inside those white-washed walls. Charlotte understood her feelings and returned her to her pokeball.

The aeration tunnels were certainly claustrophobic – they could barely fit, despite being short for their ages. The tunnels smelt heavily of dust and spores, making it difficult for the both of them to breath without holding back sneezes. As they crawled along, Kit assessed the situation by peering through the periodic vent grates. Judging from the yelling and the screeching of pokemon, Silver was simply muscling his way through the base.

"Charlotte," Kit whispered. She perked up at the sound of her name.

"Let's go lend him a hand," he grinned mischievously. Horrified, Charlotte could only watch as he kicked open the vent closest to Silver, tumbling out. Moments later, he sent out Firebrand, commanding her to use flame burst on the nearest enemy pokemon. Charlotte would have preferred to stay in the tunnel, had she not been caught by two angry, black armour clad guards. Gulping back a ball of spit nervously, she slipped out of the vent, stumbling as she landed. Promptly, she sent out Sunnyside, just as the two guards grabbed firm hold of her.

"Use headbutt!" she called. Sunnyside gave her a confused look – his opponents were not pokemon. "O-on the guards, Sunnyside! I don't want to do it either!" she yelled, struggling in their iron grasp. "But I don't want to go with them." Eyes narrowing with determination, Sunnyside leapt up, ramming his hard head right into the skulls of her captors, stunning them briefly.

"Charlotte!" roared Silver from some distance down the hall. "I told you not to concern yourself with this! I don't want to be responsible for the actions of children!"

"Then don't be!" Kit yelled back as he punched a particularly burly guard right in the nose, knocking him out cold. Just as the guards reached for Charlotte again, he hurled a pair of shuriken at them, lodging them right between their shoulder blades, making them grimace in pain.

"Kit!" she said, startled. "You ca-."

"Lecture me later, let's go," he said, sprinting off towards Silver. Cringing, Charlotte followed, scooping Sunnyside up into her arms, sneakers scuffing on the polished yellow tile floor as she ran. The white walls rushed past her, the shouts growing louder as she reached the next scuffle. There were at least five guards and a scientist there, confronting her, Kit and Silver. She was in an utter state of panic, trembling in the face of her opponents.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pair of fangs dive into her right shoulder, making her scream in pain. Kit, hearing her cries, was soon by her side, burning the living daylights out of the ekans that had attacked her. "Hurry up! Do your part – you're dead weight if you don't fight. Just deal with them one at a time," he said quickly, jabbing a needle of antidote into her arm before the effects of the poison could kick in. The girl nodded, immediately telling Sunnyside to use metronome on the two parasects scuttling right for her, followed by the guards who owned them.

He waggled his finger, a red aura glowing around him. He fell to the floor, rolling and slamming right into the parasects, knocking them off their feet, along with the guards. Charlotte didn't know if that was low sweep or rollout but it didn't matter. She called for another metronome attack, Sunnyside gathering a beam of energy above his head, firing a ray of bundled sunlight at their tripped attackers, blasting them away. A powerful blast of psychic energy from where Silver and his alakazam were standing, knocked out the rest of their attackers, allowing them to continue down the halls.

They passed by door after door – clearly, Silver was looking for something in particular. They had almost reached the end of the hallway when they could hear another hoard of attackers approaching. The whir of the siren grew louder and louder, the flashing of the alarm lights driving Charlotte insane. With a jerk, Kit suddenly tugged her into another room, slamming the door behind them.

Utterly dazed, Charlotte stared at Kit. "W-what – why?" she stuttered.

"This room said 'archives' I'm assuming there is something particularly interesting in here," he said as he quickly went over to one of the document filled boxes lining shelf after shelf in the cluttered room. "We are going to loot some of this – don't tell me stealing is wrong because these are bad guys Charlotte."

"What makes you say that?" she asked direly, anxiously casting glances towards the door, praying that no one through it open since they were too distracted by Silver.

"Didn't you want to help Silver?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes at her questions. "Well…yeah…but this is a way of helping him too since he clearly hates those guys." Kit didn't want to tell her that he was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the guards. They just kept coming out with tougher and tougher pokemon – neither he, nor his pokemon could stand up to that, not yet anyway. He hated himself for his weakness, but for the time being, there was nothing he could do about it, other than run back out there and get his pokemon killed.

He darted from shelf to shelf, drawing out certain documents at random, simply reading the title before continuing. He chose whatever seemed the most interesting. Most of the ones he picked up were files talking about their experiments. Towards the back of the room, he flipped through one in particular.

"Experiment thirty-six – fusing ditto DNA with eevee DNA," Kit's expression became increasingly more concerned as he read over it. "Holy fuck...," he swore in disgust. "Twenty eevees experimented on…one lived. The rest…died horribly." He felt sick to his stomach.

"Why?" Charlotte dared to ask, feeling bile creep up her throat. But she gulped it down, since there was a loud bang at the door, followed by it slamming open. Another pair of guards walked in, this time brandishing guns. Since they were so rarely seen in Johto, where pokemon were the main method of enforcement, the two children froze in their shock. One of them raised it, firing at the space just beside Charlotte's head.

"Come quietly. We don't want to hurt either of you – just the red-head," the first guard said as gently as a muscular and rugged-looking man could. He hit his partner on the shoulder, causing him to lower his gun slightly. Kit leaned over to Charlotte, whispering in her ear. He could hear her heart beating from where he stood.

"We are going to climb up into the vents again," he said as he opened one of the pouches strapped to his waist, tossing down three, small black spheres. Smoke swirled around them in one shifting cloud as the spheres met the ground, causing yells of confusion from the guards. Charlotte felt an arm snake around her waist, before suddenly finding herself back up in the vents again, crawling along as fast as she could manage.

"Where are we going?" she asked Kit desperately.

"I don't know!" he replied. "We lost Silver so I guess we'll just-." His voice was cut off by a startled scream as the children tumbled down a sudden vertical chute. During the fall, Charlotte grabbed hold of Sunnyside, assuring that he did not get hurt. With a sting of pain, they plummeted into a pile of unwashed laundry, causing the both of them to grimace in disgust.

"Why…do these have blood on them?" asked Charlotte as she scrambled out of the bloody pile of rags as soon as physically possible. Kit joined her, shaking his head in dismay. They heard a succession of shouts again as a trio of guards saw them.

"How did you get down here?" one asked. "The fight's upstairs."

"Extrasensory," said Kit in answer. His vulpix popped up from the rags, eyes glowing bright magenta as she unleashed a powerful wave of psychic energy towards the usurpers, briefly knocking them off their feet. "Carrot, these are the only guards down here – the rest are upstairs fighting Silver. We have to beat these guys quickly so we can continue." Charlotte nodded, reaching for her belt to send out Fang and Static. Simultaneously, the guards sent out a trio of muks.

"Electroball, water gun, metronome," she commanded. Panicking in the sudden situation they were thrown into, Static and Fang quickly unleashed their attacks on the muks, with Sunnyside's move slightly delayed, since he had decided to disobey her orders.

"Sunnyside!" she called as she watched the pokemon try to mimic Firebrand, his eyes glowing magenta, his body rising a couple inches off the ground. "No!" Her cry came too late as the pokemon seemingly exploded, sending waves of psychic energy through the hall, sending everyone flying. Head ringing, once Charlotte regained focus, she picked up her now fainted pokemon, silently thankful for his display of unbridled power.

"Damn," muttered Kit as he recovered, along with their pokemon. Not wanting to risk fighting more guards, they ran down the hall, searching for nothing in particular. Kit soon spotted a sign on the wall, which had an arrow with the label 'tube room' on it. Hoping that the place held some significance in their aimless wander throughout a place they really have no place in, he steered Charlotte towards the direction the sign was pointing in.

Soon enough, they skidded across a room unlike the others they had seen so far – a room that would be a cause of nightmares for the both of them for weeks. Silently, they simply stared at their new surroundings, mouths agape, horror etched into their expressions.

True to the sign's word, there were sixteen green tubes built around the edges of the room. Each one was large enough to hold a big pokemon – at least the size of a feraligatr or charizard. Each tube was filled with some kind of harlequin green, viscous fluid. Each had a computer attached to the front of it, displaying numerous numbers and statistics that baffled both trainers. In the centre of the room was a massive, metal machine that hummed mechanically. Tubes ran off it at regular intervals, attached to the bottoms of each of the tubes. On each side of the machine were long, steel tables littered with vials of strange liquids and papers and reports of all kinds. The room stunk of medical alcohol and disinfectant.

Only eight of the tubes had pokemon in them.

Or at least, they identified them as pokemon, neither of them could tell for sure.

The creatures were crafted from spliced body parts of two separate pokemon. There were no stitches were the parts met – just a thin line of purple gelatinous material. Charlotte and Kit paced the tubes in unable to comprehend what they were seeing. Silently, they tried to identify what mass of skin, wings, limbs and organs belonged to which pokemon - it was the only thing they could think to do.

Charlotte began to cry softly, the tears obscuring her vision. She couldn't comprehend why someone would think to do this – why they would make such horrible abominations out of innocent, unwilling pokemon. Kit felt the same way – even he was beginning to tear up at the sight. He was severely missing his mask.

Each pokemon was equally disfigured in such a way that the both of them doubted any of them would be able to function as a living being. Most of their faces were screwed up in pain.

Charlotte stopped by one creature in particular – the one that looked least disfigured. It had the body of a very pale vaporeon, with a scaly white underbelly. It had the face and frilled ears of a dratini. It had a small, blue orb just where its spit tailfin joined the rest of its tail. It almost looked natural, aside from the purple gunk leaking from its eyes, and the helmet attached to her head, with numerous cords running off it.

She was stricken with hurt for the creature, pressing her hand up to the glass, her sobbing increasing, becoming physically painful for her. "We have to save them," she muttered to Kit. Sniffed back snot, he shook his head slowly.

"I…don't know if all of them would be able to make it outside these tubes," he noted grimly. Charlotte slid down to her knees, her own pokemon crowding around her, equally, if not more so traumatized by what they had seen, since they were pokemon themselves. They knew now that this was the kind of things that Athena was subjected to during her stay with the Initiative.

"This one though," began Kit, pressing his hand up against the glass beside Charlotte's. "Let's try and free this one."

She glanced down at the computer screen for its tube, trying to gain any clues of how to free it. In doing so, she found out that its name was simply, 'Experiment 425' and its sex was female. Her vital signs appeared to be fairly strong – stronger than the other experiments. Kit pressed on one particular button on the screen, causing a loud whirring sound to emanate from the tube. Slowly, the green fluid began to drain, the pokemon being lowered to the bottom of the tube.

The click of a gun loading was deafening.

"I know you guys," came a familiar voice. The two snapped their gazes towards the new interlocutor. His face bore a deep grimace, the rash on the side of his face having worsened since they last saw him. At least this time, he was wearing a pair of sweat pants, rather than just his underwear. The look in his eyes was genuinely sympathetic.

"Geez, kids, I'm really sorry you had to see this," he sighed. "This gun is just for show. I'm not doing any killing." Nevertheless, they were wary of the weapon, their pokemon on edge. Charlotte and Kit locked gazes, Kit taking Sunnyside from her as Charlotte watched the glass cylinder of the tube sink into the ground, allowing her to pick up the surprisingly light Experiment 425.

"Oh, that's crossing a line," Monroe seethed. "Put her down." He clicked the safety off the gun, causing the children to flinch. Kit noticed Sunnyside pull open his eyes, struggling in the ninja boy's arms. He hissed at him to keep still.

"No," refuted Charlotte adamantly. Static's fleece sparked with blue as she took a few steps forward, joined by Fang. They were already preparing their best electroball and water gun attacks. Firebrand stepped forward too, eyes glowing magenta once more. Monroe tutted at the sight almost mockingly, before whistling.

The ground shook as two hulking nidoking made their way into the lab, swaggering up to Monroe's side, glaring down at the tiny humans and their tinier pokemon. Charlotte continued to sob, Kit tightening his fists. He was really regretting following Silver now. This was the stupidest idea he had ever gotten and followed through with.

Their pokemon knew they didn't stand a chance against pokemon like that.

"I'll ask you again, because I'm not a complete dickhead," he said with forced calmness. "Put 425 down – she will die if left too long outside that tube."

"I'd argue death is better than suffering," snarled Kit. "Might as well let her see the light of day then spend another fucking second here."

"A bold statement for a little boy," snorted Monroe, his finger hovering over the trigger. "I guess you will need a little more persuading then." With a look of actual remorse, he pulled the trigger, the shot piercing the air as cleanly as a knife, time slowing as the bullet whizzed towards Charlotte and 425. She squeezed her eyes closed, preparing for whatever was going to happen next. Firebrand leapt forward, about to use extrasensory to push the bullet away.

However, Sunnyside beat her to the punch.

The blast of magenta light was enough to turn the bullet around a full 180 degrees, nicking Monroe's ear as it whizzed past. Sunnyside's silver form hovered in front of the children and their pokemon, fairy-like wings beating the stale air, wide eyes filled with anger. He raised his still stubby arms, focusing the psychic energy once more.

"Touching, your togepi evolved to protect you," chuckled Monroe. "But I still can't let you go."

"Yes you will," said a new voice. Monroe groaned in irritation, turning around to see Silver and all six of his pokemon out of their pokeballs, fully ready for a good fight. His face sported a black eye and a fat lip, indicating his personal struggle against the guards.

"You…beat…all of them?" questioned Monroe in utter disbelief.

"Yes, and I could easily pummel you into the ground. Let the children go," he said firmly with not a hint of room for argument. Bitter hatred flitted across Monroe's bronzed features as she slipped the gun back into the holster at his belt.

"I suppose your pokemon and you would be significantly weakened after all that fighting. You even fought Storm moments before you came here. You're still a child, Silver," he laughed. "Nevertheless, I'm a smart guy – I'm not going to test you right now. Later, perhaps, but not now."

"I'm not just going to let you walk away," Silver growled.

"Yes. You will. Or else you'll be crushed by the weight of this building once it comes down onto your head," he said, pulling a remote control out of the pocket of his lab coat, clicking the large, red button on the centre. Moments later, a large explosion was heard from far below them, rocking the ground. Silver scowled fiercely at Monroe as the man simply strode out of the room, returning his nidokings to their pokeballs. Unlike them, he knew the escape route.

"You better run kids," he chuckled darkly. "Wouldn't want you all to die in the debris."


	23. Aftermath

Chapter Twenty-Three: Aftermath

"W-what do we do!" Charlotte screamed as she narrowly dodged a piece of the ceiling as the tremors began to destroy the foundations of the building.

"Alakazam," said Silver. "Teleport us out of here." The pokemon, body covered in bruises and cuts, lowered his head, shaking it slowly. The trainer sighed, returning all of his pokemon to their pokeballs, advising Charlotte and Kit to do the same. "Then we run," he said, taking one last look at the children before setting off as fast as he could out of the room. Charlotte and Kit were quick to follow, the girl hefting 425 over her shoulder, the adrenalin and fear pounding through her veins allowing her to sprint fast enough to keep up with Kit and Silver.

All around them, the building began to collapse, raining debris down onto them, splitting the ground beneath their feet. Luckily, Silver remembered the way back – every movement they made was towards the exit, not a single action spared.

Finally, they reached the entrance of the base, bursting through the door and into Mahogany Town's cobbled streets, just as heat, flame and debris exploded through every orifice of the building. Silver, Kit and Charlotte were sent flying, tumbling across the street, scraping their skin on the harsh stone. Charlotte made sure she hit her back, coddling 425 close to her chest to make sure she didn't get hurt.

The building simply imploded on itself, becoming nothing but a pile of useless rubble, washing the surrounding area in dust.

The confusion quickly drew a crowd, who helped the trio clamber to their feet, firing question and question at them. Silver refused to answer any of them, addressing Charlotte right away.

"Come, we have to take 425 to the pokemon centre immediately," he said. Nodding, she and Kit followed him towards the centre, picking their way through the bemused crowd. Some of the crowd split off, following them inside, the chatter amongst each individual almost deafening. Already, there were reporters filming them as they handed in all of their pokemon and 425 to the nurse.

The nurse stared at the pokemon in horrified disbelief, clasping her hands over her mouth. She looked between Silver, Kit and Charlotte, simply shaking her head in denial at what she had been given to care for. She soon pulled herself together though, scooping the creature up, calling for back up. Two other nurses rushed up to her as she headed for the emergency room. Another nurse took away their battle-worn pokemon, tending to them immediately.

Confused, worn out and still stricken with dull horror, Kit and Charlotte slumped into one of the pokemon centre's sofas. However, they were still not allowed to rest as a reporter jabbed a microphone into their faces.

"What happened down there? Could one of you explain?" she rushed, trying to pressure the children into giving up their answers. "What was with that strange pokemon?"

"Go away," moaned Kit, squeezing his eyes closed, desperately yearning for his mask.

Luckily for them, a trio of nurses emerged, ushering the crowd away, telling them to give the poor children some space – that if what happened was of any importance, they will be informed of it later. Begrudgingly, the crowd of onlookers and reporters left the pokemon centre; leaving the place nearly completely empty, save for Charlotte, Kit, Silver, some nurses and a couple of stray trainers who were still waiting for their pokemon to be treated.

As soon as they left, Charlotte drew her knees up to her chest, crying silently. Kit could see her chest shudder with each sob. He looked away from her, letting loose a shaking sigh. He couldn't get the image of those mutated pokemon out of his head – he doubted he ever would. He had never begun to think that he would encounter something like that before. He was no goody-two-shoes, but he would never dare to experiment on pokemon like that. Those creatures were suffering. He knew Charlotte felt exactly the same way he did.

Gingerly, as if it would physically hurt him to touch her, he placed a hand on her back, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. Surprised by his touch, she looked up at him with her watery, bloodshot eyes. "Geez…you cry a lot," he muttered. She shrugged.

"We...have to stop the Spore Initiative," she said out of the blue. Kit couldn't agree more. Who cares if they are making some kind of serum that would make all pokemon stronger and healthier – they were experimenting on helpless pokemon. Just what kind of goal were they trying to reach through that? It was like they were trying to make an army of superior pokemon, like Team Rocket.

Kit laughed humourlessly. "If they are doing that kind of shit, then they may as well be called Team Spore," he said. Charlotte smiled mirthlessly, nodding.

"Neither of you are strong enough to do that," said Silver smoothly as he sat down on the couch opposite to them, now sporting a bandage over the wound on his head. There were visible shadows under his eyes – he probably hadn't slept for days. "People are doing something, namely, me and some of Gold's friends."

"We can't just sit around after seeing something like that," argued Kit, opening his eyes to glare at Silver. "Look," he began, reaching over to his backpack, pulling out at least five, thick, manila folders from his backpack. Silver's eyes widened slightly in astonishment as he read the title of the first one 'Experiment 425'.

"I managed to nab these while we were escaping – and I'm not giving them to you unless you let us help you guys," said Kit with a mischievous smile, attempting to blackmail Silver. He sighed, sinking deep into the pillows, closing his eyes for a moment. There was a long moment where he didn't say anything, making Kit wonder if he was ever going to answer him. Silver could just take the folders by force, but he was too tired to bother. Kit was about to speak up and prompt him to reply when Silver spoke first.

"There is a meeting in Blackthorn City next week," he revealed. "Take those files there. I guess we could use another couple eye witnesses." The face he made as he spoke was one of pure and utter annoyance and disgust at the fact that he was actually letting these children play a part. He really needed to get some sleep – he wasn't thinking things through properly. Beyond their use in the upcoming meeting though, he would assure that they weren't going to meddle any further.

"But know this," he said, straightening up. "I saw how poorly you two stood up in a fight against those guards back there, and how much you broke down at the sight of those experimental pokemon. Both physically and mentally, you kids aren't up to the task."

"I know," muttered Charlotte. "I just feel bad for the pokemon…I realised that Athena, a pokemon I adopted in one of their ceremonies, was experimented on with that – what did they call it?"

"Genome Serum," answered Silver.

"…Yeah," nodded the freckled trainer. "She's traumatized – she refuses to fight for me anymore. She sees all humans as a threat to her."

"And that Monroe bastard injected my nidorino with that Genome Serum crap, making him go nuts. He hasn't been the same since – withdrawn and depressed," Kit added.

Silver lowered his head, distantly displeased at the fact that the Spore Initiative had such an effect on beginner trainers – by all means, they should barely have come into contact with them. Green and Olivia had informed them of the government's action of removing funding for them, in favour of increased funding for the Silph Company. That appears to only have made the Initiative more aggressive in their pursuits.

Judging from the flashing red light above the ER room, it would still be some time before the nurses were finished doing what they could for 425. In the meantime, Silver got up and headed for the video-phone booths to make some calls. Charlotte and Kit, after receiving their pokemon from the nurse, decided to head out of the pokemon centre a bit and try to calm down.

Mahogany Town was quiet at this time in the evening, a cold breeze billowing through the town, making the hanging signs teeter back and forth. Since Kit knew this town as well as the back of his hand, he headed towards his favourite place – an old and abandoned watch tower at the edge of town, where he used to play with his school 'comrades' (as he referred to them).

They climbed up a sturdy rope ladder into the tower, the height making Charlotte a little nervous. Kit switched on a battery powered lamp sitting on a table to the side of the watch tower, illuminating the small space. There were a few boxes here in there, with some comic books and empty cans of soda placed on top of them. There were two bean bags there, along with several cushions. There were three targets painted onto the wall opposite to the entrance, a few kunai and shuriken lodged in them. From the tower, the entirety of the town and the Lake of Rage could be seen.

Kit sat down in one of the bean bags, sending out Firebrand. The pokemon seemed quite happy to be there, sniffing her nose at the familiar scents, before curling up on the pillow closest to Kit.

"She hatched here," he explained simply, stroking her velvety ears. Charlotte nodded, sitting down in the bean bag closest to him. She opened up Sunnyside's pokeball, his new, unfamiliar form appearing in front of her. He stumbled for a bit on his new legs, before flapping his wings a few times. He grinned at Charlotte, non-verbally asking if she was pleased with his new form.

"You look like a little angel," she smiled, hugging the togetic close to her. He curled up onto her lap. He was much larger than he was before, his legs hanging off the side of her thigh, his neck crooked awkwardly to fit in the nook of her arm. Nevertheless, he purred softly as she began to pet his velvety head.

"You were…kind of cool back there, Kit," mumbled Charlotte. He smirked as his flame-like ego grew taller. He shrugged.

"I'm always cool," he boasted.

"I-I could barely keep up with you," she sighed. "I mean, how am I supposed to beat more gyms, let alone the admins of Team Spore or something?"

"Training and hard work," said Kit simply. "Our pokemon aren't fully evolved yet. Like Athena still hasn't gotten over her PTSD or whatever and that new eevee you got literally doesn't know how to fight. If we are going to earn Silver's recognition, we are going to need to train our asses off." Charlotte nodded a few times in agreement.

Suddenly, the sound of her pokegear rang out through the silence, prompting her to hastily answer it, pressing the receiver to her ear. Her mum's sharp yells came through crisp and clear. She trembled in fear at how angry she sounded, but she couldn't help but be relieved that she was there for her to talk to. Kit visibly perked up, listening in on their conversation.

"How dare you go and do something so dangerous!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs. "You are so damn lucky they didn't kill you, Charlotte!" The girl simply stayed quiet, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop her mother's ranting, regardless of how guilty she felt, regardless of how much she regretted agreeing to follow Silver into there. "Very little information was revealed on the news so tell me, just what the hell did you do?"

"I-I," she began, stuttering. "Followed S-Silver into there. It was K-," she was interrupted by Kit wildly waving his hands. Clearly he didn't want to be blamed for putting her in danger. "It was a bad decision. I saw things…I-I shouldn't have. But I know now that Team Spore is bad a-and I want to help defeat them."

"No!" replied Janette. "Even I wouldn't dare to take on an organisation that big."

"B-but those pokemon were suffering!" argued Charlotte, her voice rising. "R-rangers would f-fight to free those pokemon, protect them, no matter what the cost!"

"You aren't a ranger, Charlotte!" her mother reinstated, causing Charlotte to nod solemnly.

"But I will be," she said. "I may not be able to do much to deal with Team Spore, but I at least what to do things here and there. My friend and I are going to a meeting with Silver, Gold and his friends in Blackthorn next week. Kit has some documents from Team Spore we are going to use against them."

"Absolutely not," she said, tone dying down somewhat. Her voice sounded hoarse as she said, "You're just a child. You can't understand the gravity of what is going on here. It's not as simple as just kicking someone's butt and saving the day just like that. It isn't just the Spore Initiative doing stuff like this, you realise that right?"

"Y-yeah, Team Rocket did that too," stammered Charlotte, caught off-guard.

"No, not just them, Charlie," she sighed through her teeth. "Pokemon experimentation is not a new thing to major organisations."

"W-what?" Charlotte uttered in disbelief. Kit leaned in, making sure to catch every word of this conversation. He was just as bewildered as Charlotte was.

"I've sent Cockatrice after you to pick you up and take you home?" Charlotte and Kit were struck with shock at her revelation.

"N-no!" the girl argued feebly.

"I'll be keeping you on house arrest until you are strong and wise enough to fend for yourself. Eleven really is too young to send children out into a world filled with monsters," she said firmly.

"No!" Charlotte repeated, louder and stronger this time. Suddenly, the phone was ripped from her grip, Kit sighing into the receiver.

"So you're _the_ Janette Evergreen, right?" he drawled. The line was silent for a moment.

"Are you that 'Kit' boy my daughter mentioned?" she said. Her voice was now oddly calm. However, it was an eerie stillness – like the calm before a storm.

"The one and only. Look, I don't know Carrot _that_ well, don't get me wrong. But she's not as weak as you think she is, as much as I hate to admit it," he breathed. Charlotte's eyes widened as she watched him speak. She was still shocked that he was talking to her mother – like he actually knew her. She placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning in so she could hear.

"She's got like, three or four badges now. Like, she has a long way to go before she can even consider fighting me, but she's still decent. Also we survived a flood yesterday and she isn't even that traumatized about it. She's stronger than you think," he continued. Since the line was completely silent, Kit continued, if not a little more cautiously.

"And…I'm here to, you know…protect her?" he said, sounding unsure. "We aren't going to run into trouble like that again, not without stronger pokemon and a good plan so put a little trust in her. It's grossing me out saying all this, but it's probably true." Met with silence once again, Kit shrugged, handing the phone back to her.

"U-uh," faltered the girl. "He's telling the truth?"

"I'm coming out there myself, tomorrow. Don't you dare leave Mahogany Town," she said with finality in her voice. With that, she hung up. Shaking slightly, Charlotte slipped the phone back into her backpack. There was a long moment of silence.

"Was…all that true?" she asked Kit, locking eyes with him. He gave her a pained look before nodding slowly. He looked away from her, definitely not elaborating on any of that.

"You're my main source of monetary income. I was trying to make you sound better than you actually are," he lied. Judging from the downtrodden expression on her face, his words got to her. "We have to leave here tomorrow morning. I don't know how fast your mum is but she sounded pissed."

"I don't want to disobey her," she said. "It'll only make my punishment worse."

"But if you avoid her forever, you'll never have to face the punishment," Kit pointed out.

"True," she admitted, kissing Sunnyside's forehead before continuing to speak. "But I love my mum. I don't want to avoid her forever." Kit went quiet at that. Even after being yelled at like that, after being told that she had to give up on all she has accomplished to return home to her mother, she still loved her.

"Doesn't your mum want you to follow in her footsteps?" asked Kit, realised that there was some discrepancies in what he was being told.

"Yes…but she doesn't want me to get hurt in the process. She doesn't want me to do anything dangerous, get to know too many people – or anything," she complained. "I don't understand her." Kit sighed once more, getting to his feet and heading towards one of the boxes, flipping it open. Moments later, he withdrew a blank piece of bark around the size of his face. He pulled out a knife from his belt, starting to carve a face into it.

"So I guess she would go bananas if she saw you hanging out with someone like me," he noted.

"Yeah…," she agreed. "I really don't want to go against her but…if I don't; I'll never be able to live up to what she really wants from me. Also…I won't be able to stop Team Spore if I got back and I won't get to go on adventures with you anymore. You're mean, but I like your company."

"T-thanks," Kit stuttered, caught off-guard. He nicked his finger with the knife in his surprise. He sucked on it with a grimace. "So I guess we are going to run tomorrow?"

"Totally," she smiled, trying to keep down the guilt welling within her.


	24. Rebels

Chapter Twenty-Four: Rebels

In all of the years Silver had been a trainer, never had he seen a nurse look so grim. The boy held his breath, expecting some sort of bad news. The nurse placed her palms on the counter, her hair a mess, her apron splattered with stains of varying colours. She had worked through the whole night, trying to keep 425 alive.

"The good news is that she is stable. The bad news is that she has oddly sized lungs which reduce her ability to breathe properly. She can't walk properly either – her hind legs are lame. She doesn't have a reproductive system," she began to explain, staring down at her clipboard, a bead of sweat dropping onto the paper as she spoke.

"Her heart is smaller than the average pokemon of her…um…species, plural. She's partially blind as well. We've managed to stop them from leaking that purple fluid but I'm not sure for how long. Her DNA is a scrambled mess – we've detected eevee, vaporeon, vileplume, dratini and ditto DNA in there. We've assumed she's completely synthetic – that she was never separate pokemon.

"She won't live long, but she should be able to live for a little while without life support." She finished speaking with a weary shrug, burying her face in her hands.

She added one more thing, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "We were expecting her to be hostile but…for whatever reason…she just placidly lets us do whatever we need." That was strange – most pokemon, after being put under that kind of abuse, would fight back. But, since this pokemon was created, not born, Silver supposed it wouldn't know anything different.

"We aren't sure whether to keep her here, or let her experience a few days outside of that awful environment before being returned to whoever's care is deemed fit," she said, utterly defenceless in the face of this situation. Years and years of pokemon study did not prepare her for this.

Silver took a deep breath. "Well, since this is an extremely rare case, she probably will be immediately given to the Union, who would seek specialised medical care and assure she is as comfortable as possible. They would like to perform some tests too in order to fully comprehend what the Initiative has done to it."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but be reminded of Team Rocket's old schemes. Never had they gotten as far as the Initiative with mutated pokemon. He was thankful that they hadn't gotten far enough to create perfect mutants – that would lead to trouble beyond his own comprehension.

His father would lose his mind over this.

"Government agents will be sent to collect 425 in the morning. Until then, I will be staying here," he informed the nurse. She nodded, handing him a key for his room.

Kit and Charlotte had overheard the entire conversation from the dining hall nearby, putting them further off their food. Kit slammed his butter knife into the table, actually managing to imbed it into the grain of the wood. He then pushed his plate to the centre of the table, simultaneously with Charlotte. The food looked delicious, but the nausea in their guts prevented them from eating it.

"Since we're leaving town tomorrow, we might as well abduct 425 and take her with us," stated Kit boldly. Charlotte raised an orange eyebrow, before nodding. This time, she agreed with him straight away. No pokemon should pass away after a life like that. I bet she doesn't even know what colour the sky is. She still had the nagging feeling that it wasn't the best decision, since Silver was older and more experienced than her, hence probably knowing better than her. Still, 425 deserved to taste fresh air.

"She can't walk, so tonight we'll head out to the old watch tower again. I have a red wagon hidden in the bushes that we could carry her in," he planned.

"Cool," she nodded. "In the meantime, what should we call her?"

"I don't know, 425 sounds pretty cool as it is," smirked Kit.

"But that's not a real name," said Charlotte. "And it would only remind her of her life as a lab-rat. How about something like Flow?"

"I don't know, that sounds dumb," he frowned. His words were useless though – Charlotte had already made up her mind.

Neither of them slept last night. Their pokemon didn't sleep much either. Whenever any of them closed their eyes, they were met with the haunting figures of the Initiative's mutated pokemon. Wide awake, Kit decided to finish his new mask while Charlotte snuck down into the intensive care area of the pokemon centre to check on Flow.

The pokemon looked almost happier, lying there inside its glass-domed chamber on a bed of soft cushion. Tubes ran off its wrists, an IV positioned beside its bed. A breathing mask was attached to her creamy muzzle, a respiratory machine pumping oxygen in and out of her lungs. The girl pressed one of her hands to the glass, staring at her little paws, and her dainty eyelids.

Silently, she cried for the creature, cried for its brethren. She cried for a long while, stricken with pain for Flow's plight, and anger at the Spore Initiative, who she thought were good people that very morning. She had been deceived.

She barely noticed Athena break out of her pokeball, placing her hand on the glass beside her trainer's.

"A-Athena?" Charlotte stuttered, seeing the dark look in the pokemon's ruddy eyes. Upon gazing deeper, the girl found hints of recognition. "Do you know her?" Athena shook her head, breathing on the glass. She traces her finger in the condensation, clumsily writing a single word.

"Others," her trainer muttered aloud, surprised that she knew how to write. It took a moment to realise what she meant. "You knew others like her?" Athena nodded in confirmation. Her other hand balled into a fist as she lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes. She heard her sniff and hurriedly wipe away the drops.

She fogged up the glass again, writing another word: 'help.' She looked back upon her trainer with a forced look of determination. Charlotte petted her head gently, wiping her own tears from her eyes.

"I know you want to help them – we all do but…I don't want you fighting again. But you did before. When I first got you, you would try hard to please me through fights and training, but you became angrier and more withdrawn every time you fought…I'm not sure if you will be able to tell me why but, this is just my feelings," she explained softly, still stroking the pokemon's bald head.

She breathed on the glass, writing a handful of words this time in smaller, messier writing: 'want to be strong'. Once Charlotte had read it, she fogged the glass again, adding to her previous phrase with: 'no more fear.' She tapped on her heart, clenching it, shaking her head. Her trainer focused hard to try and put together what she was trying to tell her.

"I thought…you didn't like me," she muttered. Reluctantly, she shook her head. "So…you just want to be strong - strong enough to keep your fears at bay?" Athena nodded enthusiastically. But her skin still crawled at the thought of getting hurt. She could tell that her trainer was beginning to understand a small portion of how she felt, but she doubted she would understand the conflict in her heart: her desire to become strong, versus her fear of getting hurt.

"You…are kind of like my mum," Charlotte commented out of the blue. Confused, Athena tilted her head to the side in an inquisitive fashion. The girl's mouth quirked in a tiny smile. "She wants me to be strong too, but doesn't want to see me get hurt." Athena nodded, understanding.

"I still don't want you doing anything that makes you too uncomfortable though," said the girl. "How about we start with some simple training where we just hone in on your moves and what not." Her machop agreed with that completely. With the kind of training she knew her trainer had in store for her, she was in no danger of serious injury.

For once in forever, she smiled.

Running on no sleep, the children decided to abduct Flow and escape Mahogany Town at the very crack of dawn, so they would not be seen. Kit headed out a half an hour ago to fetch the red wagon, wheeling it into the pokemon centre. Meanwhile, Charlotte gently removed Flow from her chamber, stirring her awake in the process. Her wide, purple eyes stared at her expressionlessly.

"Hello, Flow," she smiled. "We're taking you on a little adventure." The pokemon continued to simply stare at her dumbly as she carried her out into the main foyer of the pokemon centre, gently placing her down on a comfy, large pillow Kit had placed in the wagon.

"We got enough supplies right?" asked Kit. "It's a pretty long way to Blackthorn." The girl checked through her bag briefly before giving him a nod of confirmation. He nodded back, and they headed out into the foggy streets of Mahogany Town.

"It should take us about two days to get there, and then we can train until the day of the meeting," said Kit. His companion agreed as they slunk along the streets towards Route 44, clinging to the shadows of buildings, mist swirling around their ankles. The fog was thick enough to be cut with a butter knife – they could barely see a metre ahead of themselves.

Kit, used to Mahogany Town's fog, was able to easily navigate them onto route 44, undetected by the early risers in town. Once they reached the gates, he cast a cautionary glance towards the nearest watch tower, assuring that the guard's back was to them. The wagon kicked up the dirt noisily, causing them to quicken their pace just in case anyone was alerted by the sound.

Mahogany Town opened up on a sweeping valley, surrounded by high-ridged mountain crests that only the most confident mount-climber eccentrics could dream of taking them on. The recent floods left numerous miniature lakes scattered across the landscape, their brown-tinged waves lapping against grassy shores. In most parts, the forest grew untamed, branches entangling, leaves littering the snaking path. Makeshift foot-bridges joined shores, making a satisfying clunking noise as the children and their new company wandered their way through the mists.

The valley ended in a high rock-face, a set of stairs cut into its lowest portion. Kit knew there to be a crack in the rock-face that led into the depths of Ice Cave. He could see the cold breath of the wind billow out, as if some dragon-pokemon was blowing off steam inside. He had been on this route many times before, mostly to train with Firebrand. He supposed that today wasn't so much different, save for his new companions and the fact they were running away.

Since the route was long and the morning was cold, the children took their time to pick their way through the woods. Kit told Charlotte that they would be able to stay hidden in there, so long as the mist stayed around for a bit longer. They listened to the waking pokemon around them: the slow crescendo of bird cries and the rustle of undergrowth-dwelling pokemon. A pidgey swooped down from the tree tops, wings nearly taking Charlottes head off as it dove for a caterpie, carrying it off with a squawk.

"Do you think there would be any trainers out this early?" asked Charlotte tentatively as she struggled to lift Flow's wagon over a fallen log. Kit waited impatiently, before finally helped her with hasty, sharp movements.

"Maybe," he grunted. "One or two if any. Campers." Just as he said the word they spotted a pair of tents pitched across the glossy surface of a lake. Judging from the lack of movement about them, they were still soundly asleep in their cosy confines. Kit head towards the lake's edge, skirting around it. Charlotte, however, stopped for a moment, checking on Flow.

The hybrid was wide awake, eyes taking up a little over half her face as she gazed dumbly at the landscape around her. She seemed to still be in denial about where she was – she had never seen a place like this before. All she knew were white walls and experiments. Charlotte was surprised that she wasn't frightened – being exposed to such new environments would only make her think of new dangers.

The creature's bug eyes glazed over as she stared out over the shimmering water body, lost in a daze of confusion and silent wonder. Her paws twitched every now and then, burning with a sudden desire foreign to her. Her small heart hammered dangerously fast in her chest. Her breathing became laboured and a wheeze rasped from her throat.

"Kit...I think she wants to swim," Charlotte muttered, crouching down beside the red wagon, gingerly ruffling the scruff of her neck. Kit stopped beside the pair, shaking his head slowly.

"Charlotte she can't swim," he reminded her. Determination struck the girl's face as she met his eyes. Her blue-grey eyes were glossed over with steely resolution. "I-I have a plan," she began, as she reached for her belt, fumbling with Fang's pokeball. Kit caught onto her idea with a groan. Suddenly the still waters looked much more foreboding. Mist rose like steam off the waters, like some fire-type pokemon had decided to take a swim. He peeled his eyes away to look back at Flow, who was already being gently lowered into the water.

A yell tore from Kit's throat. "It's cold and she'll drown!"

"She wanted to swim and I'm going to make sure she does!" she yelled back. This pokemon deserved access to all the things a normal pokemon would, regardless of her disabilities. Kit leant against a nearby tree with a scowl, unsure why he was being so passionate about the hybrid all of a sudden. He watched cautiously as Fang guided the pokemon away from the shore, ripples trailing behind them. He held his front paws in his claws as gently as he could manage; smiling softly, though his jagged fangs betrayed him.

Her eyes were locked onto his, causing the quiet pokemon to become visibly uncomfortable. This was awfully intimate. He took a sturdy breath as the sandy earth dipped beneath them, the hybrid shocked at the loss of land. She was distressed for a moment, unable to help herself due to the lameness of her hind legs. Her vaporeon tail snapped back and forth, kicking up waves. Curt, yet gentle clicks rose from Fang's throat, coaxing her into a more relaxed state as he assured her he wouldn't let her go.

Satisfied, Charlotte pulled her legs underneath her as she sat down in a dry patch of earth, keeping close watch of the two water pokemon. Kit was reluctant to join her, but did anyway. Time became irrelevant as the pokemon danced in the water, Flow becoming more confident with each stride. The mist had cleared, though the ashen clouds above told the children the day would be overcast.

Flow began to smile – grin, as Fang's grip on her gradually loosened. Something foreign, yet familiar resonated throughout her small frame – she felt like this was right.

"See…she's fine," beamed Charlotte as the pokemon began to make laboured paddles of her own, fore-limbs flailing, free from Fang's guidance. Still, the croconaw lingered, there to stop her from dipping under whenever her limbs failed her.

"Oh, Charlotte!" chirped a vaguely familiar voice out of the blue, scaring the lights out of Charlotte and Kit. In defence, the latter had already sent out Nightshade, who clawed at the earth defensively, growling like a canine. The chirpy voice soon turned to a surprised yelp as the poison type dived into the bushes. It would have bitten and poisoned her if it weren't for a flurry of flamethrower from her growlithe.

The ranger hurriedly emerged, arms up in friendliness, blond afro even fizzier than normal. Beneath his mask, Kit grimaced. It was the same ranger who had tried to put him in jail for stealing Charlotte's togepi. He called back Nightshade, though kept him out, reminding him to stay on guard. Charlotte didn't share his apprehensiveness; rather, she was more concerned about Flow being seen. Wildly, she waved her arms at Fang who hid the mutant behind him.

Olivia giggled and shook her head. "I already saw her," she said as she brushed some lingering dirt and twigs off of her black and red uniform. Once she looked at the children again, her face grew hesitatingly serious. "I actually…can't believe you guys. You…stole her didn't you." Charlotte shot a guilty look at Kit, who shrugged. Olivia, unable to understand why they didn't know of the gravity of their actions, she ran a hand through her hair, almost getting her fingers stuck.

"Look, I don't want to sound like the bad guy but I have to take her back to Mahogany Town," she said, getting right to business. Charlotte froze, unsure whether she should deny her or give in – this was a ranger she was talking to, and an ally – what was she supposed to say. She looked at Kit again, who grew tenser.

"No. We are bringing her to the meeting," began Kit. "Then we will give her back," he added reluctantly, not knowing what they were going to do with her after their trip to Blackthorn. He wasn't an idiot – he knew they couldn't just take 425 away from life support and expect her to live a long and full life. He agreed with Charlotte that she should get some fresh air but ultimately, her freedom would not last long.

Olivia seemed surprised by his statement, taking a few moments to recollect. Charlotte, too, was shocked and somewhat offended. She didn't know that was Kit's plan – she had thought that they were going to keep Flow a secret, not put her right out there for the world to see. She wasn't sure if she agreed with him, but she stayed quiet, unable to think of a better option.

"425 will definitely be discussed during the meeting but we can't take her there physically," Olivia reprimanded. The logic of children she will never understand – this whole kidnapping was pointless and extremely dangerous to the hybrid's life.

"Yes we can," argued Kit with a growl. "Between here and Blackthorn she will be able to see more than she ever has in that white prison. And I doubt those stuck-up officials will do anything until they see the thing suffering before their beady eyes." Kit's argument was beyond Charlotte now as she began to take a few steps back, gesturing to Fang to bring himself and Flow back to the shore.

Olivia straightened her regular slouch, taking two long strides towards him. Kit stood his ground. "Ice cave is coming up – she won't survive temperatures like that," she said grimly. "I have to take her," she emphasised, stressing each word. Kit's stance wavered, though he quickly reaffirmed it. She did have a point but he wasn't going to go on like she had it.

"Charlotte," he said, catching her attention in the middle of her towelling Flow dry. "Start running, take Flow." She shook her head in confusion, busy orange eyebrows knitting together. Kit repeated his words, louder this time. Olivia scrambled for her belt, releasing her sandslash and newly acquired porygon. She looked visibly pained as she made her point one last time. "Return her or I will have no choice but to arrest the both of you," she said firmly, thinking of her first attack.

Charlotte had to be told twice before she stuffed her towel in her bag and took off as fast as she could, the wagon jolting wildly behind her, Flow bundled in her arms. She set her gaze upon the entrance to ice cave, barely managing to avoid tripping over rocks and twigs. She threw one last glance over her shoulder at Kit, unable to see anything but a bright burst of inferno, followed by an explosion of inky smoke. The air filled with the scent of soot. Heart pounding, she could hear nothing but the heavy falls of her feet on the compacted dirt road.

Kit caught up with her at the mouth of ice cave. The pair stared down across the valley, at the slowly dissipating smoke cloud. The crisp bark of Ace pierced the air, each one sounding closer. Guilt trembled in Charlotte's heart as she looked into Flow's eyes, positive that she was doing the wrong thing now. Kit could see her indecisiveness and sighed.

"It's too late now. We're going to give her back once we get to Blackthorn," he said as he walked into the misty, dark abyss of Ice Cave. Quirking an eyebrow, Charlotte called after him, stepping inside.

"I thought we were going to give it back after the meeting," she said. Through the sudden light emanated by Kit's torch, Charlotte could see why he had a change of heart. Thick, purple crust had begun to cloud her eyes; her breathing more laboured than it was before, her body limper. The guilt grew in Charlotte, almost like a tangible force now. It had barely been two hours and she was getting sicker - all because they thought she would be better outside.


	25. Capture

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Capture**

She said nothing as she returned Flow to her wagon, clinging close to Kit as he navigated their way through the darkness. Taking out her own torch, she was relieved to see that, unlike Dark Cave, there was no zubat clinging to the roof. Instead, they were met with a chilly silence, punctuated only by the occasional shuffling of pokemon in the shadows.

Merely five minutes inside, the party had to stop. Shuddering violently, they both withdrew their warmest clothes from their packs, throwing them on as quickly as their frozen muscles would allow them. Charlotte covered Flow in a couple blankets as well, not wanting the cold to worsen her condition. She seemed pleased by the warmth, her smile growing as she snuggled within the cotton. She also took the liberty of pulling up the map on her pokegear to help guide them through the catacombs.

Somewhat warmer and more prepared, they set off again, torches carving a path for them through the pylons of frozen water and icy rock. In many areas, the ground had completely frozen over, making it difficult for them to traverse. Nevertheless, they had fun sliding from rock to rock – it was like a free skate rink.

Firebrand seemed to enjoy it the least, preferring to simply melt a path for herself. However, doing so created pools of water which bothered her just as much. Ultimately, she clambered up onto Kit's shoulders, much to his disdain. She was warm though, so he quickly stopped complaining.

Things became a lot less enjoyable as they reached the middle of the path, where ice-free ground was no longer available. They slipped numerous times, both of them equally embarrassed by both their own, and their companion's falls. Kit, much too proud of himself, would blame all of his slip-ups on Charlotte, who would proceed to jokingly push him in vengeance.

Sliding along at uncomfortable speeds, the pair suddenly lost control of their movement. With a sharp scream, Charlotte latched onto the nearest objected, which happened to be Kit's hands. For once, he didn't complain, the bells on his wrist jingling wildly as the two began to spin down the path. Charlotte's frightened blue-grey eyes bore into the grain of Kit's mask and once more, she found herself wishing he didn't wear that all the time.

Her fear dissipated once she heard a chuckle escape from Kit, drawing out a smile from her. The icy walls around them sparkled like a thousand mirrors as they spun like crazed dancers, giggling their dizzy heads off. Charlotte briefly remembered an ice-skating competition she watched once before, telling Kit about it through heavy pants – how they did amazing tricks. Seemingly inspired, Kit swiftly let go of her hands, causing her to panic as he placed them on her waist.

"I'm going to lift you up," he yelled.

"What? No, I-," she screamed as her feet left the ice, her body losing control as Kit tried his best to lift her. Unfortunately, the task proved too difficult for the both of them and they crashed, spinning completely out of control, their limbs entangled within one another. Until finally, the smashed into a boulder with enough force to knock the wind out of Charlotte's lungs, bringing on a spell of nausea so strong she feared she would puke all over Kit. The wave passed and she was able to process the situation she was in.

A blush crept up her cheeks, spreading like rust as her nose pressed against Kit's mask, her lips briefly brushing the wood. She heard a strange noise – almost a squeak – come from him. She tried to pull away, but found herself trapped by both his limbs and the boulder behind her.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red, followed by another impact and an excited squeal from Flow. How she managed to stay within that wagon was unknown to the children. They were tossed along the ice again until finally they ran out of spin. Breathing heavily and feeling incredibly awkward, they began the process of untangling themselves from each other's embrace.

Once freed, the two put a distance of at least three metres from one another. There was a long, awkward silence that resulted in Charlotte unceremoniously declaring she was going to go make sure Flow was okay. Finding that traversing the ice was a lot easier than facing Kit at that present moment, she inched over to the now battered wagon.

Flow smiled cheerily at her from within. Clearly, despite the incident, she was only growing happier, which was all Charlotte wanted for her. Beaming back at her, she brushed her wiry fur with her grazed palms, briefly embracing her in a hug. When she pulled away, she noticed the purple sheen covering the whites of her eyes, the twitch in her left cheek. Both the awkwardness and happiness she had previously felt drained away like water in a shower. She turned to Kit, who now had his back to her, scratching the back of his head.

"We should…get going. That was stupid and now I feel all weird and we probably messed 425 up more," he seethed, heading towards the gaping crevice just up ahead. Charlotte opened her mouth to comment on how he actually enjoyed himself but was soon silenced by the sight of the bridge crossing the chasm.

It was once a wooden rope bridge, but now, it was caked in permanent ice, making it rigid and slippery. The ropes had snapped in places, unable to bear the weight of the ice. She called out for him to wait, sliding towards him, pulling the wagon along with her. Firebrand, who had avoided the crash, was waiting in an ice-free spot just in front of the bridge. Charlotte stared out over the icy expanse nervously, partially wishing that they could simply turn around and find another path. However, a loud and familiar canine bark in the distance reminded them of why they needed to push on. Kit seemed to have no problems, or at least, his vulpix mask did not betray him.

"We'll have to take turns," he muttered thoughtfully. "Since 425 and her wagon are pretty heavy I think you should have Sunnyside tow her along the bridge first." Awed by his ingenuity, she followed his suggestion, sending out the spirited fairy. He spun around once in the air before receiving his orders. Cautiously, he pulled Flow's wagon to the opposite side of the trench.

The pair watched with bated breath as tiny chunks of ice freed themselves from the frozen bridge, plummeting far below. Charlotte swallowed thickly, trembling as a large split appeared in the middle-most part of the railing. She heaved a sigh in relief as the pokemon made it to the other side. As back-up, Charlotte asked Sunnyside to hover along the length of the bridge just in case either one of them fell along the way.

Kit was the next to go, since he refused to let Charlotte do anything before him. His ninja-training was useful here, his light-footedness enabling him to get both himself and Firebrand across the bridge without any difficulty. It was like he weighed less than a feather. Even more nervous than previously, Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut, taking a few deep breaths, before forcing herself out onto the bridge.

Once she reached the weakened centre of the bridge, a groan and a loud crack drew her eyes to the ground below her, which she had desperately tried to ignore despite her morbid instincts. The ice beneath her had begun to crack further, spreading out beneath her like a lightning strike. Panic hit her like a bus, and within moments, she found herself screaming, her voice melding with cracks as she sprinted to the landing, almost crashing into Sunnyside.

Breathing heavily and incredibly relieved, she stared back at the bridge she had traversed, catching sight of one last fragment of ice drop below. She looked at Kit, who simply shook his head in disapproval. "Don't be a pussy," he hissed.

"A…cat?" she projected confusedly. Kit rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, stuffing the other hand in his pocket.

"I-I don't know, it doesn't mean that," he said quickly, not wanting her to reveal the deficits in his knowledge. He just heard his neighbour yelling it once before – he was sure it was an insult. He began to head off down the thin tunnel just north of the bridge.

Charlotte began to head after him, only to cast one last look at the bridge upon hearing a bark. The orange and black coat of Olivia's growlithe stood out against the blue ice, the creature struggling to make its way across. Beneath its feat, steam curled into the air as fresh water dampened his pads.

"Kit!" she called, catching his attention. She pointed towards the pokemon, though he didn't seem to care. "Yeah, I know, we got to get moving or it'll drag us back to that chick."

"No, it…it's burning a hole in the bridge," she said, squinting her eyes as she tried to get a better look of what was going on. A deafening crack shook the entire bridge, Charlotte's delicate features twisting in horror as the whole thing fractured beneath his feet, plummeting into the depths below. A yelp gurgled from his throat as he was caught by a lump of melting ice and wood. A succession of loud crashes followed.

On the opposite side of the ravine, Olivia clasped her hands over her mouth and her knees buckled beneath her, nearly giving way. Momentarily, she turned tail and sprinted back down the tunnel, presumably to locate another passage down there. In the wake of the incident, silence rose up like a miasma, sending chills down Charlotte's spine. "We have to see if he's okay," she said immediately, spotting a long ledge leading down to the trench floor. It was just thick enough for her to fit. She was terrified of the ledge becoming unstable, but she really didn't want Ace to die from whatever injuries he sustained.

Kit rolled his eyes, choosing to stay put under the guise of him making sure Flow was okay. Even more frightened without him with her, she tried to think cheerier thoughts as she descended slowly, yet determinedly. The walls seemed to creak as she clung onto them, her legs wobbling like jelly. Her breath hitched in her throat, as if it were lined in glue.

Body aching with all the tensing, she finally made it to the bottom of the trench, the cliff she was just on towering at least twenty metres above her now. Quickly, she got to work searching for any tufts of orange fur amongst the debris of ice, rock and splintered wood. As she searched with her numb fingers, she was bothered by a shuffling amongst the rocks.

Initially, she had hoped it was the growlithe she was looking for, but upon finding his limp body lying trapped beneath a couple of heavy planks of wood, she learnt otherwise. She began to hastily approach him, concerned, only to slow her pace at the sight of a pokemon she had never seen before.

The pokemon had thick, brown fur with darker streaks. Its stubby, hooved legs were almost completely hidden beneath its tiny body so the girl wonder how it managed to even get around. Its peachy pink snout sniffed the wounded puppy in intrigue, though its beady eyes told the trainer that this was not the first time it had seen a pokemon fall. Its short tusks glinted in the low-light as it noticed the girl approaching, though it didn't move, it just stared at her expectantly.

Curious yet worried for Ace, she whipped out both her pokedex and her medicinal case. Firstly, she pried the growlithe out of the debris, cradling him as gently as possible as she checked him over for injuries. His worst injury appeared to be a broken leg, combined with some nasty cuts and bruises. Luckily, his life didn't appear to be in danger, and she was able to apply first aid. Once her work was complete, and she had spritzed him with a couple super potions, he was well enough to reach up and lick her nose appreciatively. She smiled at him, pleased that he was going to be alright for the trip to Blackthorn. Before she returned to Kit, she decided to attend to the little pokemon at her knees with her pokedex.

It was a female swinub, a duel ground and ice type. Its species was known for having a particularly keen sense of smell and being highly resistant to the cold. She had the nature oblivious, rendering her immune to infatuation, which Charlotte didn't totally understand but she assumed was useful. It was ARS level 23, which was about the same level her pokemon.

She sat there for a few moments, staring deep into her eyes, wavering in her conviction. It was just standing right there, not a hint of fear on its features and was pretty cute to boot. She also would need an ice type pokemon if she was going to stand a chance against the dragon-type gym in Blackthorn, she realised grimly. Mind made up, she unclipped Moonlight's pokeball, hoping that catching this swinub would earn him some decent experience points. Recognising the movement, the swinub made to escape, only to be caught off by Moonlight materialising right behind her.

He yipped happily, shaking his rear end playfully as he stared expectantly at his trainer, fully prepared for a fight at all times. Pleased by his enthusiasm, Charlotte hoped that this next attack would break the barrier between a level 10 eevee and a level 23 swinub.

"Shadow ball!" she yelled with pride, drawing a wary look from Kit up above. She had been gifted the training manual for it after losing a battle with an ace trainer, who said that she probably needed it more than he did. Trying to remember how the move went, Moonlight hesitated as his eyes began to shine a deep violet, a hazy purple aura leeching from his fur. With a bark, from his mouth he fired a ball of shadows directly into the duel type, a puff of smoke enveloping her upon contact. Eagerly, Charlotte waiting for the smoke to clear, only to find that the swinub appeared almost completely unaffected by the attack. She just blinked at her confusedly.

"Uh…use tail whip a few times," she tried. Moonlight flipped onto his back, shaking his tail in swinub's general direction with a goofy grin. She seemed even more confused now, taking a few steps towards him. Suddenly disturbed, the eevee scrambled behind Charlotte's legs. She sighed heavily and shrugged at swinub. Impatient, she figured she would try to catch it with an ultra-ball rather than send out another pokemon. Clumsily, from lack of practice, she tossed the pokeball at her opponent. Quickly, she commanded Moonlight to sit on it, in an attempt to assure it stayed shut. He did so and a few moments later, a relieving click was heard. Beaming, she retrieved the pokeball, clicking it triumphantly to her belt.

"Hey Kit!" she called, cupping her hand to her mouth to project her voice. "I caught a pokemon! I'm naming her Tundra."

"Well, I'm going to catch _two_ pokemon in Blackthorn just to show you I can catch things better than you," he yelled down at her, his voice containing not even a hint of congratulatory grace. Her mood dampened, and she returned to her main task of carrying Olivia's growlithe out of the ravine.

They set off at a fast jog as they knew that Olivia was even more agitated in her pursuit now. The jagged walls seemed to close in on them as the path narrowed to the point where they had to move single-file, their shoulders scraping against the shallow rock. All the while, an odd cracking sound could be heard above them, bringing further urgency to the children's escape. With a shattering crash, the ceiling mere paces in front of them shattered.

As Olivia's face was generally enshrined in a dopey, kind look, Charlotte nearly jumped out of her skin when she fell from the freshly made hole in a puff of dust and debris. Her breath seethed through her teeth in huffs, her hair tipped in ice, scrapes crisscrossing her skin, lips inked purple with cold. In her eyes burned a fire that seemed to devour every trace of blue, yet it was clear that rage was stoked by deep concern. Kit immediately moved for his pokemon belt, but Charlotte stopped him.

She cowered under her gaze, wanting just to give Ace back and be given a five second start to start running again. But she knew that wasn't going to happen. The guilt sinking in her gut told her so. Kit, in denial, came to the same conclusion. Olivia had burst through the cavern roof, and was currently blocking the only way forward. There was no way to cross the ravine behind them with the bridge out. His knuckles twitched as he considered just decking her in the face and subsequently knocking her out so she would cease being a pain.

Listlessly, Charlotte held Ace out, like some kind of peace offering. Olivia took her eyes off them for merely a moment as she received the pokemon, checked Charlotte's handiwork, and returned the pokemon with a vague look of relief. She promptly turned her attention towards Flow's listless face in the red wagon trailing behind them. Kit moved in front of her, gaze darkening underneath his mask.

"We both know she's going to die," he muttered as if saying so would kill her right there and then. Olivia flinched, anger draining from her face. "Like Carrot said, she might as well see the outside world." The ranger straightened up, regaining her mad expression, though not nearly as intensely as before.

"Not if we get her to Blackthorn, now," she said firmly. "I have no idea what you're punishment for this will be but I'm sure it will be pretty grave, do you two even realise what you've done?" She glared down at them, trying to evoke some kind of understanding response, but received nothing. They were children after all, and they clearly believed what they were doing was right.

"We…we were going to take her back to the pokemon centre anyway b-because she l-looks sick," stammered Charlotte, gesturing at the purple fluid spilling from the hybrid's eyes, accompanied by the milky gloss covering her irises. Her body seemed to twitch uncontrollably, muscles spasming as if a seizure was going to take her at any moment.

"Look, regardless, we need to go," Olivia said in deep concern. Charlotte had only seen such a look, such a tone of voice, in her mother once before. It was a year ago, when she snuck out of home to go swim in the lake outside Sprout Tower with a couple of her school friends. Given that it was nearing winter and the water was freezing, she contracted pneumonia and was sick for weeks. Throughout her illness, her mother had a constant look of anxiety that seemed to settle over every one of her features.

And for that reason, Charlotte began to understand why Olivia so urgently wished to get Flow to a pokemon centre. She also reminded herself that, after all, the woman was a ranger – her job was to protect the pokemon of the world. At the end of the day, just like her mother, she knew what was best.

"…Okay, l-let's go," she uttered, following the ranger dejectedly. Kit stood there in silent rage with no clue what he should do. He could just choose to abandon the whole situation by turning around and leaving Charlotte to their problems. His gaze flickered towards the chasm briefly, before returning to see the girl's backs, and Flow's wagon, steadily heading away from him. Clutched by a feeling of unease that he didn't care to analyse at the time, he cursed his own name violently as he followed them.

Olivia must have contacted Blackthorn's police force, as they were waiting to meet them at the end of Ice Path. Kit's nerves tingled with apprehension upon spotting the batons and steel handcuffs hanging from their belts. Their pokemon were absent – this was no place for a battle. Charlotte was fixated upon the handcuffs, concerned that they were going to be used. Luckily, that seemed to not be the case, as Olivia simply handed over Flow and her red wagon which was promptly whisked away by one of the officers towards the orange-roofed pokemon center.

The children watched her leave with a heavy feeling in their hearts, Charlotte hoping that their time with her had not induced any permanent damage. They didn't have too long to reminisce, as the remaining officer escorted them to the police station. With each step, guilt rose and intensified in Charlotte, bringing faint nausea. She knew she had gone against her own morals – theft was something that she deplored and had reprimanded Kit for doing before. But now, here she was, by his side, accused of the same crime he was when they met. What would her mother think of her?

Kit knew full well how Charlotte was feeling, but couldn't reciprocate her feelings. For him, this was exactly what he would be doing if they had not partnered up anyway. He would have continued being a ninja for hire, doing whatever his employer asked, whether that be theft or saving someone's life. He was beginning to think that returning to such a life wouldn't be so bad.

The police outpost was small – a neat shack constructed from planks of white-washed wood. A signpost with the word 'police' on it was nailed to the blue tiled roof. It looked like the crime rates were low here, judging from the diminished police force. The screen door was thrust open and the children were ushered inside, to a small alcove on the left with a couple sunken sofas. They were told to wait patiently until an officer was ready to brief them. To their utter horror, they were also told that their parents would be contacted.

Charlotte sunk in her chair, filled with perpetual fear of her mother. If she were to find out what she had been doing, her punishment would be unlike any she had received before. Her mother had never beaten her – she had no need to – but now she was not quite sure. Trembling as wave after wave of rising panic hit her, she sent out Fang, holding him close. Sensing her distress, Fang panicked and bit her hand, his maw effectively swallowing her whole hand. At least she was distracted from her fears for a few moments while she pried him off.

Kit, however, was surprisingly calm, gazing out the window at the rolling mountainous landscape outside. His parents expect this kind of behaviour for him – this wasn't his first theft, after all. He had stolen pokemon time and time again – he only got in trouble by his parents if he was _caught_ which, in their eyes, was worse than the actual crime. Though he had to admit the circumstances surrounding the theft were more serious, since the pokemon was under intensive care and protection from the government, their penalty was likely going to be more serious than just a smack and being locked in his room for three days. A cold shudder ran down his spine as he came up with worst case scenarios.

Momentarily, a middle-aged female officer sauntered up to them, equipped with a clipboard and pen. Olivia accompanied her, looking grave. Kit was opposite to her, but if he was beside her, Charlotte would have clung to him. She fought hot tears, averting her gaze since looking at them only made her tear up more.

"Charlotte Orange Evergreen, aged 11, Mamoru Nakano, aged 12," she began. Kit flinched upon hearing his real name, face scrunching up in a scowl beneath his mask. He didn't say anything though – he was already in enough trouble. Charlotte's arms tightened around her partner pokemon, a low growl gurgling from his throat as he sensed the trouble his trainer was in. If given the command, he would attack Olivia and the officer and not think twice.

"First of all, Mamoru, hand me your mask. You may get it back at the end of our conversation," she said sternly. Kit froze as if he had been hit with an ice beam attack. There was a long moment before he took it off, reluctantly handing it over. He suddenly felt less confident, as if everyone in the entire police station was watching him now, judging him. Charlotte resisted the urge to stare at him.

"You have both been convicted of pokemon theft – serious theft, since this isn't a normal pokemon, but a critically ill, one-of-a-kind pokemon that the Union has taken into its care," she went on, her face placid and tainted with a professional seriousness – it was like she had seen a thousand cases like this one. "Now, first I want to find out who amongst you is responsible for initiating this plan," she said. "I'm assuming there was a plan as all the security cameras in the pokemon center were conveniently down at the time of the theft, and all three of the security guards had been incapacitated with, I believe, sleeping pills."

That was Kit's handiwork. Charlotte's job was simply to retrieve Flow, whereas Kit would take care of any security. At the time, Charlotte was awed by his talent, but now she felt guilty for the both of them and wished that there was a deficit in Kit's talent which led them to be caught before they had actually stolen Flow. At least then, they wouldn't get into so much trouble

The children exchanged grim expressions, hesitant to actually say anything. It was Kit's idea in the first place and it was his resources and skills that essentially put in into action, but Charlotte went along with it without resistance. They needed to talk alone.

"C-can we have a few moments," Kit stuttered. "Uh…alone," he added. The woman very obviously glanced at the security camera just above them before nodding and leaving them be. Kit immediately got up and sat beside Charlotte, much too close for comfort. Face heating up, he whispered.

"We're in deep shit," he began. "Look, I don't know that much about the whole criminal system but I know that from the age 12, you can be punished and even go to court for crimes that you have been found responsible for." Charlotte's heart skipped a beat as it fell into her stomach. That would mean that Kit could be held responsible for the whole thing and would be punished for it, whereas she could go unscathed (provided her mother didn't kill her).

"But kids under the age of 16 don't actually get convicted if they are incapable of recognising the wrong in their actions in a sort of…uh…court…like way?" he trailed off at the end of his sentence, unsure how to explain it. Charlotte seemed to understand though so he stopped trying.

"What we did was…right though, in a way, right?" she projected. Kit nodded in agreeance.

"It was. And because of that, they'll let us off, as long as we explain ourselves carefully. Because I don't want your stupid guilt or empathy getting us in trouble. I am halfway to getting the funds I need to go to ninja school – if I get fined, I'll lose all of that. And even worse – I could go to juvenile detention," he continued. His expression was set with determination, though his eyes betrayed him – guilt glimmered in their midnight pools. His hands gripped her shoulders, causing her to seize up, face getting even hotter.

"Do you understand? Play dumb, which isn't hard because you're dumber than a sack of bricks," he said firmly. She took offence to that but understood his message nonetheless. There was one question that was still not completely answered though.

"Who do we say is responsible?" she asked, dire. Kit paused, grip loosening slightly and falling to her forearms. Charlotte's head was swimming with dizziness as she tried to stay afloat in this situation. She wanted to hold his hand but she knew it would probably make her more anxious. She settled for fiddling with the hems of her shorts instead.

"I…fuck," he faltered. She frowned at his explicative but had pretty much given up on stopping him by this point. There was a silence. Kit moved away from her, bells tinkling as he did so. He stared down at his wrists with a wry smile. "Huh…you gave me these to stop stealing."

"I think I need some too," she sighed.

"Nah, it doesn't work. I'm cutting them off later," he noted. She couldn't help but agree. He hadn't taken them off since she tied them to his wrists – they had both become accustomed to their chime now. But they did nothing to stop him. "But, seriously though, let's just say we were both at fault because that's pretty much the truth."

"I guess so…you did come up with the idea though," she whispered softly, not wanting anyone to hear that since it would land him in further trouble. He punched her in the arm and she winced, but silently, they had both agreed to admit that they were both at fault.

Finally, Kit called the officer back, who was waiting on the opposite side of the room.

"Right, so are you ready now?" she asked. They nodded, and she repeated the question. "Who was responsible for this plan?"

They both began to speak at the same time. Flustered, Charlotte quietened down, Kit continuing for the both of them. "We're both at fault. I-I…" he stopped, glanced at Charlotte, and sighed. "We both wanted to get her out of there. We had the same idea." He worded his statement as carefully as possible, hoping that they would just convict them both for the crime so the punishment wouldn't be dumped on him alone. If he didn't win over that officer, he would make Charlotte regret the day they met.

"Alright," confirmed the officer. "Now, why did you two decide this was a good idea?"

That was an easy question, to which Charlotte swiftly replied, voice trembling, yet coloured with passion, "Freedom. I know…sh-she's going to die so I wanted her to see the outside before she…yeah," she muttered sheepishly. "A-all she knew were white walls and horrible experiments…she needed to see that was not all there is in the world."

Kit picked up the thread. "We knew she was going to die if she was outside intensive care for too long, since she's like…physically…unstable? I don't know. So we were going to return her as soon as we got to Blackthorn. There is nothing wrong with what we did." He looked at Charlotte again, wanting her to nod or something but she just sat bolt upright, fists resting on her thighs, looking incredibly guilty. He bit back a discontented sigh.

"Whatever your intentions may have been," began the officer. "That pokemon was still stolen, and you have sabotaged equipment and incapacitated police officers to get it. Not only that but this pokemon needs to be presented as evidence in the upcoming meeting. We cannot let you slide for this one, despite your young ages." She paused to scribble some notes on her clipboard, chewing her lip habitually. All the while, Olivia stood by her side, simply nodding every once and again.

"I'm going to further clarify the story with Ms. Speckler here, and then I will consult my superiors for a suitable punishment. We will also be consulting your parents once they arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, you two will be staying here," she explained. "Your pokemon will be confiscated, healed, and returned to you tomorrow if your sentence allows it." Fang growled loudly in disapproval, not wanting to be torn from his trainer. Charlotte stroked his forehead, feeling just as apprehensive, but knowing it was only short-term.

Olivia sheepishly added, "Um…I don't think all of this is really necessary." Judging from the guilt in the children's eyes, they weren't going to attempt stealing another pokemon any time soon.

"It's just a precaution," the officer clarified. With that, they were led to a small room at the back of the station furnished purely by a couple of beds and a dingy bathroom separated from the main room by a curtain. The door snapped shut behind them with a sense of finality, the light on the roof flickering with the force.

They spent a few moments glaring into the security camera in the ceiling, before falling down on their respective beds. Charlotte curled into a foetal position, hugging the pillow to her stomach, finally letting herself cry. Kit simply watched her for a little while, unbeknownst to her, before lying back. He was fed up with all her tears, but he supposed this time they were justified.

"They didn't give back my mask," he retorted. "So don't look at me."

She said nothing. He had been expecting her to say some crap like 'but your face is cute' but she seemed to be too overcome. A long silence passed, and Kit was seriously considering just going to sleep and dealing with it all tomorrow, when Charlotte spoke again.

"I'm scared," she squeaked. She felt exposed and vulnerable without her pokemon with her – she had nothing to defend herself with, both from external and internal forces. Her mother was going to be there tomorrow, leering down at her through her glasses, probably thinking that she was the worst daughter she could have asked for. She was going to be sentenced. A sentence which, in her pessimistic mind, was likely the worst they could dish out to children. Not only that, but her mother was probably going to force her to come home too.

"I can't be a ranger if I do stuff like this! Rangers don't steal, or disobey the law," she wailed. Kit rose all of a sudden, clenching his fists. He didn't care about her stupid, bleeding heart dream, but her sobbing was shortening his fuse. At least, that was his surface excuse for speaking up.

"This is exactly the kind of shit rangers do!" he reprimanded. "I mean, I don't know jack about rangers but I'm assuming they always do what they feel is best, right?" Charlotte nodded, numbed by his sudden outburst. "You did, we did, what was right in our own minds. Now 425 can die knowing how the water feels running through her fur, and how the dirt feels beneath her toes. You always do what is best for pokemon, you numbskull. You're a good person."

"She…is not going to die," whispered Charlotte, her sobs dying down. Kit didn't answer immediately, he was too busy chastising himself for letting slip an ounce of care for her – a ninja does not show affection.

"Did you even listen to the rest of the stuff I said?" he asked.

"Yes…t-thank you," she smiled solemnly.

The two fell silent again, a silence which was not broken for hours, both of them locked within their own emotions. Beyond their guilt, they both felt they had done the right thing. They also knew that no matter what they had done, Flow would not live very long. In the end, she was going to die.


End file.
